Vx  os«*  \^>  S  «^,       "-^  ^  e-*^ V 


TEN     CHAPTERS     IN 


THE  LIFE 


OF 


JOHN   HANCOCK 


NOW  FIRST  PUBLISHED  SINCE  1789. 


NEW     YORK: 
1857. 


THE 


WRITINGS 


OF 


LACO, 


As  published  in  the  MASSACHUSETTS  CENTINEL,  in  the 
months  of  February  and  March,  1789,  with  the  addition  of 
No.  VII.,  which  was  omitted. 


The  Liberty  of  the  Press  is  essential  to  the  Security  of  Freedom 
in  a  State,  it  ought  not,  therefore,  to  be  restrained  in  this  Com 
monwealth. 

MASSACHUSETTS  BILL  OF  RIGHTS. 


PRINTED  AT  BOSTON,  1789 


THE 


WRITINGS  OF  LACO. 


NO.  I. 

THE  time  for  the  election  of  Governotir,  &c.,  'is 
near,  and  much  has  been,  and  will  fee  sa'iH,'  fo'ipftu:- : 
ence  our  votes  in  favour  of  the  present  Chief  Magis 
trate.  We  are  told,  by  his  advocates,  that  he  is  the 
saviour  of  our  country — that  he  has  expended  his 
estate  and  his  health  in  its  defence,  and  that  we  are 
indebted  to  him  for  all  we  have,  and  now  enjoy,  as 
a  free  people.  And  he  himself  has  lately  told  the 
Legislature,  that  he  is  open  and  undisguised  in  his 
politicks.  If  it  be  true,  that  he  has  been  a  steady, 
uniform  patriot,  and  has  devoted  his  time,  his  health, 
and  his  estate  to  the  publick  service,  he  has  cer 
tainly  a  strong  claim  to  our  gratitude,  and  may 
justly  expect  a  general  vote  in  his  favour  at  the 
ensuing  election — but  if  popular  applause  has  been 
the  alone  object  of  his  pursuit — if  his  health  and 
estate  has  been  devoted  to  this  alone,  and  the  pub- 
lick  good  has  had  no  influence  upon  his  political 


conduct,  we  can  be  under  no  particular  obligations 
to  him,  and  are  at  full  liberty  to  vote  for  the  man 
that  we  may  think  best  qualified  to  promote  the 
publick  felicity.  To  determine  rightly  upon  this 
important  question,  we  must  enter  carefully  into 
his  political  character  and  conduct ;  and  with  can 
dour  consider  his  actions  in  publick  life.  In  doing 
this,  I  care  not  to  enter  into  a  very  minute  detail 
of  his  doings  as  a  publick  man ;  but  to  touch  only 
upon  particular,  important  parts  of  his  conduct, 
and  to  mark  out  the  general  leading  principles  of 
action  vith  him :  nor  shall  I  think  it  proper,  in  the 
course  of  my  narrative,  to  notice  any  attacks  from 
hireling  scribblers,  or  to  attempt  to  answer  any  who 
do  not  deny  the  FACTS  I  may  state,  or  contradict 
the  OBSERVATIONS  I  may  make  as  I  go  along. 
Mr.  H.,  by  the  death  of  his  uncle,  became  pos 
sessed  of  a  large  estate.  He  was  thought  to  have 
some  of  the  exterior  graces  necessary  to  form  a 
popular  character,  and  he  early  discovered  a  strong 
inclination  for  popular  applause.  These  qualities 
rendered  him  a  proper  object  for  the  effective  pa 
triots  of  the  day  to  bring  forward  to  favour  their 
views.  They  availed  themselves  of  his  great  desire 
for  popularity,  and  they  represented  him  as  a  man 
useful  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  to  give  him  import 
ance  in  the  eyes  of  the  people — his  vanity  favoured 
their  views — he  was  captivated  with  the  idea  of  being 
a  publick  man — a  man  of  the  people — and  he  was 


lavish  of  his  money,  and  in  his  attention  to  the  people, 
to  gain  their  affections.  To  render  him  conspicuous, 
they  assigned  him  a  part  in  their  manoeuvres,  not 
important,  but  ostentatious ;  but  having  early  dis 
covered  his  caprice,  they  did  not  admit  him  to 
their  private  councils.  Though  they  considered 
him  as  a  useful  instrument,  and  were  desirous  of 
retaining  him  in  their  service,  they  had  no  confi 
dence  in  his  attachment  to  their  cause,  nor  did 
they  ever  intrust  him  with  any  thing  that  could 
much  injure  it,  by  being  disclosed. 

Upon  these  principles,  and  with  these  views, 
was  he  introduced  into  publick  life,  by  the  leaders 
of  the  opposition  to  Britain  at  that  day.  But 
though  upon  publick  principles,  he  was  introduced 
into  the  Legislature,  and  made  to  appear  as  a  man 
of  importance,  he  had  not  in  fact  any  more  effi 
ciency,  than  the  pen  of  the  writer  under  the  signa 
ture  of  MASSACHUSETTENSIS  ;  and  it  was  often  with 
great  pains  they  prevented  him  from  going  over  to 
the  other  side.  So  great  was  his  vanity,  and  so 
excessive  his  caprice,  that  his  leaders  were  often  at 
a  loss  to  restrain  and  keep  him  steady.  His  charac 
ter  and  his  passions  were  so  well  known  to  Bernard 
and  Hutcliinson,  £c.,  that  they  could  always  attempt 
his  seduction  with  a  prospect  of  success  ;  and  they 
would  several  times  have  gained  him  to  their  party, 
but  for  the  vigilant  eyes  of  the  two  Adamses,  and 
Otis,  &c.  Nor  did  he,  during  the  period  I  refer 


to,  ever  do  a  single  honourable  or  important  act  that 
I  have  heard  of,  either  by  originating  or  carrying  a 
measure,  or  furnishing  money  for  any  great  and 
general  purposes.  Though  lavish  of  his  money,  he 
always  confined  his  gratuities  to  objects  of  the 
glaring,  captivating  kind,  rather  than  to  those  re 
ally  important,  and  extensively  useful. 

That  such  was  Mr.  H.'s  political  character  and 
conduct,  from  his   first  introduction  into  publick 
life,  to  his  being  appointed  a  member  of  Congress, 
I  verily  believe ;  and  I  would  refer  those  who  may 
doubt  it,  to  Mr.  S.  A.,  and  others,  who   were  his 
political  creators  and  supporters,  who  knew  every 
thing  that  took  place  at  that  time,  and  who  have 
spoken  freely  and  openly  of  his  demerits.     I  would 
also  refer  them  to  the  letters  of  Hutchinson,  Bernard, 
and  others,  which  have  been  published,  for  the  proof 
of  his  wavering  repeatedly,  as  to  the  side  he  should 
take ;  and  for  their  ideas,  as  to  his  firmness  or  in 
tegrity.     And  yet,  it  was  during  this  very  period 
that  he  is  said  to  have  deserved  so  much  of  the 
publick,  and  to  have  conferred  such  obligations  as 
can  never  be  repaid.     But  I  now  call  on  his  advo 
cates  to  state  the  important  transactions  he  there 
performed,  or  to  show  us  how  and  in  what  instan 
ces  he  wasted  his  property  to  serve  the  publick, 
more  than  others  did,  of  much  less  estate  than  he 
enjoyed. 

The  man  who  claims  our  suffrages,  as  a  tribute 


9 

due  to  his  services  and  patriotism,  cannot  take  it 
amiss  that  we  inquire  into  the  grounds  of  his  claim. 
It  is  fit  and  right  that  we  do  this  in  every  instance, 
or  we  must  forfeit  our  title  to  the  honourable  distinc 
tion  of  free  republicans,   and  shall   by   no  means 
honour  him  whom  we  favour  with  our  votes.    With 
this  sentiment  impressed  on  my  mind,  I  mean  in 
future  numbers  to  pursue  the  inquiry  into  the  claim 
of  Mr.  H.  to  the  supreme  magistracy  in  this  Com 
monwealth.     I  shall  do  it  in  a  general  way,  except 
in  a  few  important,  particular  instances  ;   and  shall 
not,  on  the  one  hand,  fear  to  animadvert  freely   nor 
on  the  other,  to  lose  sight  of  decency  and  candour, 
Every  man's  conduct  should  be  viewed  with  fair 
ness  ;  but  tenderness  seems  peculiarly  due  to  those, 
whose  lives   are   uncommonly    marked  with    folly 
and  vice — since  we  must  necessarily  have  a  great 
weight  of  prejudice  upon  our  minds  against  them, 
and  shall  naturally  be  inclined  to  view  their  actions 
through  a  coloured  medium. 


NO.  II. 


IN  my  last  number,  I  gave  a  general  view  of 
Mr.  H.'s  political  character  and  conduct,  from,  his 
first  entrance  into  publick  life,  to  his  going  to  Con 
gress.  A  period  important  and  critical — when  the 
feelings,  the  principles  and  the  patriotism  of  men 


10 

were  as  much  tried,  as  at  any  one,  perhaps  during 
our  contest  with  Britain.  But  with  all  the  advan 
tages  and  endowments  he  then  had  to  play  the  man, 
and  to  exert  his  talents  in  the  publick  service,  I 
never  heard  of  his  doing  any  thing  worthy  of  notice, 
or  of  his  being  considered  by  those,  who  knew  his 
value,  as  any  thing  more  than  an  instrument  played 
on  by  others.  Let  us  now  see  what  part  he  acted 
as  a  member  of  Congress,  and  how  far  he  con 
tributed  to  effect  our  National  Independence. 

Mr.  H.  was  happy  in  having  for  his  colleagues 
men  famous  for  their  abilities,  their  virtues  and 
their  patriotism — men  who  were  capable  of  exten 
sive  views  and  great  actions ;  and  who  were  resolv 
ed,  for  political  purposes,  to  support  him  and  make 
him  conspicuous.  They  accordingly  obtained  his 
appointment  to  the  chair  of  Congress.  But,  being 
elevated  to  the  highest  point  through  their  agency, 
he  thought  them  no  longer  necessary  to  his  im 
portance  ;  and  from  the  vanity  and  caprice,  inhe 
rent  in  his  nature,  he  attached  himself  to  the  tories, 
who  were  then  in  Congress.  These  men  had  per 
ceived  his  love  of  flattery  ;  they  plied  him  closely 
and  grossly ;  and  they  detached  him  from  his  col 
leagues,  and  led  him  to  take  a  part  in  direct  oppo 
sition  to  them,  and  to  the  feelings  and  interests  of 
his  constituents.  In  all  questions  for  decisive 
measures  against  Britain,  he  hung  back;  and  very 
much  contributed  to  obstruct  the  Declaration  of 


11 

Independence.  The  glare  of  Southern  manners, 
and  the  parade  of  courtly  living,  engaged  his  affec 
tions  ;  and  he  ever  appeared  to  contemn  the  manly 
simplicity  and  firmness  of  the  delegates  from  New 
England.  Thus  was  a  member  from  Massachusetts 
duped  by  the  insidious  tories — he  was  urged  by 
them,  who,  by  assiduous  attention,  led  his  vanity 
to  give  up  the  best  interests  of  America,  and  to 
hazard  even  our  independence  itself,  to  increase 
his  own  popularity,  or  rather  to  gain  new  admirers. 

When  the  important  hour  arrived  that  was  to 
give  birth  to  our  country  as  a  nation — when  the 
pulse  of  his  colleagues,  as  well  as  of  a  majority  of 
Congress,  and  of  the  people  at  large,  beat  high  for 
independence,  and  it  was  found  the  important  ques 
tion  could  no  longer  be  put  off,  Mr.  H.  then  gave  a 
vote  in  favour  of  the  measure,  and  put  his  official 
signature  to  that  memorable  Act  of  Congress,  the 
Declaration  of  Independence. 

With  these  facts  in  our  mind,  which  are  very 
notorious,  and  which  Mr.  S.  A.  and  others  can  at 
any  time  verify,  we  naturally  wonder,  and  smile  at 
the  extraordinary  merit  Mr.  H.  has  assumed  to  him 
self,  from  the  publication  of  that  Declaration,  with 
his  name  as  president.  The  Secretary  of  Congress 
has  as  good  a  title  to  superior  respect,  for  having 
certified  the  copy,  as  Mr.  H.  has  for  having  signed 
the  original — they  were  both  mere  official,  mechan 
ical  acts,  without  any  responsibility,  such  as  the 


12 

most  timid  man  upon  the  continent,  in  their  situa 
tions,  would  not  have  hesitated  to  perform.  Had 
Mr.  H.  been  a  zealous  promoter  of  the  measure,  he 
would  then  have  been  entitled  to  an  equal  share  of 
veneration  with  those  of  his  colleagues,  who  were 
advocates  for  it ;  but  having  been  opposed  to  it 
until  it  became  inevitable,  and  reluctantly  drawn  in 
with  his  vote  in  its  favour,  at  the  last  moment,  we 
ought  to  resent  his  vanity  and  assurance  in  claiming 
our  first  esteem  and  respect  on  that  occasion. 

If  Mr.  H.  has  been  so  active  and  efficient  a  man 
as  to  merit  the  honourable  appellation  of  u  SAVIOUR 
OF  HIS  COUNTRY,"  how  is  it  that  we  can  find  no  evi 
dence  of  it  in  our  published  records,  nor  any  traces 
of  such  an  idea  upon  the  minds  of  any  one  of  his 
political  cotemporaries  ?  Let  his  servile  advocates 
shew  us  upon  the  Journals  of  Congress  the  important 
measures  he  originated — the  special  services  he  has 
rendered — or  the  sums  of  money  he  has  given  to 
relieve  the  exigencies  of  State.  Or,  if  they  do  not 
appear,  then  let  them  turn  us  to  the  page  of  our 
own  State  records,  or  to  our  publick  files,  where  we 
may  find  the  facts  required.  If  we  look  into  the 
former  we  shall  find  many  instances  of  the  superior 
wisdom  and  agency  of  the  two  Adamses,  and  many 
other  worthies ;  and  if  we  examine  the  latter,  the 
important  labors  of  the  same  persons,  as  well  as  of  a 
Bowdoin,  and  others,  will  frequently  appear,  but 
none  of  his.  Why,  then,  is  it,  that  he  is  thus  arro 
gantly  styled  the  "SAVIOUR  OF  HIS  COUNTRY?" 


13 

I  never  feel  a  disposition  to  detract  from  real 
merit ;  I  rather  err  in  giving  way  to  grateful  or 
respectful  feelings  too  much ;  but,  when  a  tribute  is 
demanded,  with  all  the  pride  of  vanity  and  inso 
lence,  which  I  know  is  not  due,  I  feel  for  my  own 
and  my  country's  honour,  and  spurn  at  the  injustice 
of  the  claim.  From  his  first  entrance  into  public 
life  to  his  return  from  Congress,  I  never  could  learn 
of  any  extraordinary  merit  or  services  of  his ;  on 
the  contrary,  he  certainly  is  indebted  to  an  uncom 
mon  concurrence  of  circumstances,  which  led  his 
colleagues  to  give  him  importance  for  publick  pur 
poses.  Never  was  there  a  man  more  eminently  the 
child  of  fortune  than  Mr.  H. — he  has  shared  largely 
in  the  reputation  and  laurels  acquired  by  others,  and 
has  enjoyed  a  princely  fortune  without  any  labour 
or  exertions  of  his  own.  Possessing  the  exterior 
graces  in  an  eminent  degree,  and  inheriting  qualities 
adapted  to  please  in  polite  circles,  he  might  have 
passed  through  the  private  walks  of  life  with  real 
eclat;  but  fired  with  ambition,  and  devoted  to 
popularity,  he  has  assumed  characters,  and  taken 
situations,  which  he  could  not  support  with  credit  to 
himself,  or  advantage  to  the  publick.  But  he  has 
become  so  vain  of  the  reputation  he  has  fortuitously 
enjoyed,  and  has  been  so  flattered  and  pampered 
by  his  dependants,  tha  he  cannot  brook  any  thing 
like  independence  in  others,  and  always  frowns  on 
that  man  that  has  any  opinion  or  will  of  his  own. 


14 

And  hence  it  is  that  we  find  him  so  averse  to 
associate  with  men  of  real  respectability.  His 
habits  and  disposition,  though  they  may  for  a  time 
make  him  a  popular  man,  or  give  him  importance 
in  the  eyes  of  the  populace,  are  widely  different 
from  those  great  and  useful  qualities,  which  ought 
to  adorn  the  character  of  our  chief  magistrate  ;  and, 
unless  we  are  quite  ignorant .  of  men  and  things, 
they  will  certainly  be  viewed  as  real  disqualifications 
for  that  important  office — nor  can  we  ever  elect 
such  a  man  to  rule  over  us  without  doing  violence 
to  our  reason,  our  conscience,  and  our  social  inter 
ests.  If,  therefore,  we  do  not  find  in  his  politi-cal 
conduct,  subsequent  to  his  return  from  Congress, 
habits  and  principles  opposite  to  those  which  have 
before  governed  his  actions,  we  cannot  deliberately 
make  him  the  man  of  our  choice ;  nor  shall  we  feel 
ourselves  justified  in  styling  him  the  u  SAVIOUR  OF 
OUR  COUNTRY."  Whether  such  a  change  is  to  be 
found  in  his  sentiments  and  conduct  after  that  pe 
riod,  shall  be  the  inquiry  of  a  future  number. 


NO.  III. 

THAT  there  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men  every 
attentive  observer  must  be  convinced  of;  but  among 
all  the  tides  that  may  affect  them,  there  is 'none  so 
irregular  and  uncertain  in  its  motions  as  that  of 


15 

popular  applause  and  affection.  So  eccentric  and 
precarious  is  its  course  and  continuance  that  few 
men  of  character  are  willing  to  trust  themselves 
afloat  upon  it,  lest  they  should  make  shipwreck  of 
a  good  reputation  ;  but  the  popular  demagogues, 
who  have  every  thing  to  hope,  and  nothing  to  fear, 
these  are  always  ready  to  take  their  chance  in  the 
current,  and  they  frequently  change,  by  it,  their 
situations  for  the  better.  Feathers  and  chaff,  we 
know,  are  safely  wafted  about  on  the  surface,  and 
take  any  direction  which  the  tide  may  happen  to 
give  them;  but  an  object  of  weight  and  magnitude 
will  often  be  caught  up  by  the  shallows,  or  be  cast 
ashore  by  the  eddies  and  whirlpools.  This  figure  has 
often  accounted  to  me  for  the  continued  popularity 
of  such  men  as  Mr.  H.,  and  we  have  frequently  seen 
that  the  pliant  twig  will,  by  bending,  retain  its  situa 
tion,  when,  by  the  force  of  the  torrent,  the  sturdy  oak 
will  be  torn  up  by  the  roots.  No  man,  however, 
will  be  so  foolish  as  to  say  that  the  former  is  so 
reputable  in  our  view  as  the  latter,  or  that  we  may 
rest  in  safety  our  weight  against  the  one  as  well  as 
against  the  other. 

But  perhaps  it  will  be  said,  that  if  we  have  not 
hitherto  discovered  Mr.  H.'s  superior  merit  in'  the 
political  line,  we  must  allow  him  to  have  made  a 
great  figure  as  a  military  man  ;  and  the  expedition 
to  Rhode  Island  will  be  mentioned  as  the  instance 
in  which  he  exhibited  his  warlike  talents,  and  ren- 


16 

dered  his  country  the  most  important  services.  On 
this  field  I  should  wish  to  draw  a  veil,  and  conceal 
it  from  the  world,  from  a  strong  native  disposition 
I  have,  to  cover  defects  and  weaknesses  incident  to 
our  nature,  but,  as  much  has  been  required  of  us  for 
his  great  services  and  exertions  on  that  occasion, 
we  ought  to  inquire  how  far  the  demand  is  well 
founded,  and  how  great  the  obligation  conferred. 

Mr.  H.  was  Major  General  of  the  Militia,  at  the 
time  that  memorable  expedition  was  set  on  foot. 
He  ever  had  a  great  fondness  for  parade  of  every 
kind,  insomuch  that  he  always  eagerly  sought  after 
even  that  of  the  most  puerile  kind ;  and  upon  this 
principle  it  is,  that  he  was  never  known  to  decline 
any  appointment,  from  a  Clerk  of  the  Market  to  a 
President  of  Congress.  Having  heard  much  of  the 
pleasures  of  the  camp,  and  conceiving  this  a  fine 
opportunity  to  pluck  a  military  laurel  without  any 
danger  to  his  person,  he  sought,  and  obtained  the 
command  of  our  militia. — He  appointed  his  aids — 
he  prepared  his  accoutrements — and,  with  all  the 
parade  of  a  veteran  conqueror,  he  issued  his  orders, 
and  made  the  necessary  arrangements  to  march  to 
the  field. — When  he  got  to  Rhode  Island,  he  took 
an  eligible  situation  for  his  quarters — he  appeared 
on  the  parade  en  militaire — he  sallied  out  often  for 
the  sake  of  air  and  exercise,  and  he  sometimes  ap 
proached  so  near  to  the  enemy,  under  the  idea  of 
reconnoitring,  as  to  distinguish,  by  the  aid  of  a  good 


17 

perspective,  that  the  British  flag  was  still  flying  at 
some  miles'  distance.  Martial  musick  and  military 
movements  alone  delighted  ;  and  never  was  the  fire 
of  military  ambition  so  conspicuous  in  any  man's 
countenance  and  conduct,  excepting  the  instance  of 

the  R y  hero,  when  he  summoned  the  garrison 

of  Fort  Independence  to  surrender.  But  this  flame 
was  of  short  duration. — The  severe  cannonade  at 
the  arrival  of  the  French  fleet,  though  at  several 
miles'  distance,  disordered  his  nerves  ;  the  sound  of 
the  drum  disturbed  his  muscles,  by  alarming  his 
fears ;  and  his  nightly  slumbers  were  short  and  un 
certain,  from  the  lively  scenes  of  blood  and  carnage, 
which  a  heated  imagination  was  continually  pre 
senting  to  his  view. 

This  situation  was  too  painful  and  humiliating 
for  the  Man  of  the  People  long  to  endure.  He  grew 
peevish  and  uneasy — he  complained  of  the  length 
and  tediousness  of  the  campaign — and  he  talked 
frequently  of  quitting  the  field.  This,  his  aids,  who 
were  men  of  spirit,  were  fearful  would  soon  happen. 
They  felt  for  his,  and  their  own  honour  ;  they  used 
every  argument  to  allay  his  fears — -to  compose  his 
nerves — and  to  awake  his  ambition,  and  were  in 
hopes  to  succeed.  But  the  departure  of  the  fleet, 
the  roar  of  the  cannon  as  they  passed  the  lines  of 
the  enemy,  and  the  smell  of  the  powder,  which  by 
a  southerly  wind  was  unfortunately  conveyed  to  his 
nose  ;  the  combined  influence  of  these  horrid  cir- 
2 


18 

cumstances,  was  too  much  for  our  hero  to  support. 
He  resolved  to  return  home — he  dreamed  that  his 
child  was  sick  and  dying — he  fancied  that  the  fleet 
had  gone  to  Boston,  and  could  not  refit  in  his  ab 
sence  ;  but  more  than  this,  he  imagined  that  the 
British  were  roused,  and  he  could  not  believe  it 
safe  or  prudent,  for  the  man  of  the  people  to  re 
main  any  longer  on  the  Island. — His  last  idea  proved 
at  once  decisive,  and  off  he  set  with  a  quick  step. 
In  vain  were  the  remonstrances  of  his  aids  and 
others — in  vain  was  the  suggestion  of  the  evil 
effects  upon  the  army — and  in  vain  all  intimations 
of  injury  to  his  own  honour.  His  fears  were  more 
powerful  than  all  other  passions  together ;  and  he 
flattered  himself,  that  by  urging  his  great  anxiety 
for  the  safety  of  the  fleet,  as  the  cause  of  his  flight, 
he  might  save  his  reputation.  To  favour  this  pre 
tence,  he  flew  through  the  country  with  astonishing 
speed — he  inquired  of  the  farmer  at  work  in  his 
barn,  whether  he  had  seen  or  heard  any  thing  of 
the  fleet.  So  swift  was  his  flight,  and  so  strange 
his  inquiries,  that  the  people  on  the  road  conceived 
him  to  have  been  an  express,  who  had  disordered  his 
brain  by  the  rapidity  of  his  motion.  Having  good 
cattle,  he  reached  home  in  a  few  hours,  and  the  first 
question  upon  entering  the  town,  was,  as  to  the 
safety  of  the  fleet ;  but  after  being  at  rest  a  little 
time,  and  finding  himself  safe  in  his  own  house,  his 
fears  subsided — his  solicitude  for  the  fleet  abat- 


19 

ed — and  he  enjoyed  his  pleasures  as  well  as  ever — 
he  recounted  his  exploits  in  the  field,  and  gave  a 
lively  description  of  the  enemy's  alarm  when  he 
reconnoitered  their  posts. 

Thus  ended  Mr.  H.'s  memorable  campaign  to 
Rhode  Island ;  and  these  were  the  laurels  he  gather 
ed  in  that  famous  expedition.  If  it  be  thought  that 
they  are  not  of  the  best  tint  possible,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  he  cropt  them  flying,  and  had  not 
time  to  select  the  best  plants. 

But  to  treat  this  important  subject  with  more 
seriousness,  I  would  ask,  who  that  had  the  feelings 
of  a  man,  or  more  than  that,  the  feelings  of  a  pa 
triot,  which  he  pretended  to  have,  would  have  left 
the  camp  at  so  critical  a  moment ;  when  the  British 
were  expected  to  attack  the  American  army,  and 
every  one  was  anxious  for  the  safety  of  our  country 
and  its  cause.  Mr.  H.  commanded  a  large  body  of 
militia  for  this  State,  which  formed  no  small  part  of 
our  army.  Among  them  were  a  considerable  num 
ber  of  respectable  gentlemen  as  volunteers.  These, 
as  well  as  Mr.  H.  had  conceived  an  idea,  that,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  French,  the  capture  of  the 
British  army  on  Rhode  Island  was  the  work  of  a 
day ;  they  had  only  to  shew  themselves  and  the 
business  was  done. — They  viewed  the  expedition 
rather  as  a  party  of  pleasure,  than  the  serious  cam 
paign,  which  would  terminate  in  the  fighting  of 
armies.  But  when  the  French  fleet  went  away, 
and  the  British  were  expected  to  become  the  assail- 


20 

ants,  the  matter  wore  a  serious  aspect ;  and  the  fate 
of  our  country  was  thought,  in  a  good  degree,  to 
depend  upon  the  success  of  that  expedition.  Under 
such  circumstances,  Mr.  H.  was  called  upon  by 
every  principle,  both  publick  and  private,  to  play 
the  MAN,  and  await  the  issue.  A  regard  to  his  own 
honour,  and  the  safety  of  his  country,  should  have 
raised  him  above  all  concern  for  his  personal  safety, 
or  the  enjoyment  of  his  friends  and  family  at  home. 
If  he  who  was  comfortably  guarded  against  the 
weather  by  good  quarters — who  was  entirely  ex 
empted  from  all  the  fatigues  of  personal  duty,  and 
who  could  not  probably  be  called  into  the  way  of 
personal  danger,  could  not  muster  resolution  to 
remain  lor  a  few  days ;  what  could  he  expect  from 
the  gentlemen  volunteers,  who  did  the  duty  of  pri 
vate  soldiers,  and  in  case  of  action,  must  have  en 
countered  the  toil  and  dangers  of  their  station.  He 
ought,  as  their  commander,  to  have  set  them  an  ex 
ample  worthy  of  their  imitation ;  and  to  have  encou 
raged  them  to  duty,  by  sharing  cheerfully  in  their 
toils  and  dangers.  But  instead  of  this,  the  General 
was  amongst  the  first,  if  not  the  very  first,  to  leave 
the  Island,  in  a  time  of  danger;  he  deserted  the 
post  he  sought  after,  and  most  unworthily  filled  ; 
and  he  left  the  gentlemen  who  accompanied  him, 
and  the  troops  he  commanded  to  shift  for  them 
selves,  or  fall  a  prey  to  the  British.  Instead  of  per 
suading  his  officers  and  men,  by  his  own  example, 


21 

willingly  to  submit  to  soldiers'  fare,  and  to  keep 
those  quiet  under  the  hardships  of  their  station,  who 
had  before  been  accustomed  to  elegance  and  luxury ; 
he  was  always  studying  new  means  of  dissipation, 
and  kept  carriages  constantly  passing  to  supply  him 
with  delicacies  from  hence. 

It  is  well  worthy  of  observation,  that  Mr.  H. 
after  his  return  from  Rhode  Island  had  a  grant  of 
40,000  dollars,  I  think  it  was,  while  the  gentle 
men  volunteers,  who  attended  him,  and  who  were 
at  as  much  necessary  expense  as  he  was  perhaps, 
having  raised  companies  of  volunteers  for  that  ex 
pedition,  received  nothing  from  Government.  Whe 
ther  that  grant  was  made  him  to  defray  the  expences 
of  a  luxurious  table,  which  had  a  direct  tendency 
to  create  an  uneasiness  among  the  gentlemen  volun 
teers  who  accompanied  him,  and  which  was  very 
improper  in  any  point  of  view  ;  or  whether  it  was 
for  the  extraordinary  speed  with  which  he  fled  from 
the  appearance  of  danger  notwithstanding  the  press 
ing  intreaties  of  General  GLOYER,  who  stated  to 
him  the  evil  tendency  of  such  an  example,  and  very 
justly  foretold  the  effect  it  would  have  among  the  vol 
unteers  and  militia,  and  upon  his  own  reputation, 
those  only  can  tell  who  solicited  it  for  him.  But  this 
is  certainly  true,  that  he  was  at  no  extraordinary 
expence,  but  such  as  was  highly  disreputable  and 
injurious  to  the  service,  nor  did  his  presence  answer 
any  other  purpose,  than  to  create  uneasiness  among 


22 

the  volunteers  and  militia,  and  to  bring  dishonour  on 
him  for  his  precipitate  flight  at  the  only  moment 
when  he,  and  those  who  followed  him,  could  have 
been  of  any  service.  This  however  is  imprudently 
stated  by  his  puffers,  as  one  of  those  instances,  in 
which  he  has  wasted  his  own  property  in  the  ser 
vice  of  the  publick. 

I  would  now  ask,  where  was  the  merit  of  this 
unsoldier-like  conduct?  How  or  at  what  time,  did 
he  serve  the  publick  by  this  expedition,  or  do  hon 
our  to  himself?  Did  he  not  on  the  contrary  do  as 
much  injury  to  the  country,  and  dishonour  to  himself 
as  he  could  do  by  an  evil  example  ?  Was  there  any 
thing  in  his  conduct  upon  this  occasion,  that  was 
not  opposite  to  that  of  a  Hero,  or  the  u  Saviour  of 
his  Country  ?  "  Did  he  not  leave  those,  who  follow 
ed  him  from  personal  attachment  to  the  field,  in  a 
very  dangerous  situation,  and  in  a  most  disgraceful 
manner  ;  and  was  the  eventual  escape  of  the  troops, 
which  he  led,  from  the  hands  of  the  British,  in  any 
degree  owing  to  his  attention,  firmness  or  prudence  ? 


NO.  IV. 

HONOUR  and  reputation  in  publick  life,  can  be 
acquired  only  by  a  right  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
the  stations  we  occupy  ;  and  not  merely  by  the 
rank  or  the  importance  of  the  office,  to  which  we 


23 

may  by  accident  have  been  elevated.  Time  and 
change  frequently  raise  men  to  posts,  of  which  they 
are  wholly  unworthy ;  and,  in  popular  governments 
more  especially,  we  often  see  men  elevated  to 
places,  for  which  they  have  no  qualifications,  and 
as  it  would  seem  at  first  view,  purposely  to  render 
them  conspicuously  ridiculous.  This  consideration 
ought  to  make  us  cautious  and  diffident,  how  far 
we  avail  ourselves  of  the  popular  tide  in  our  fa 
vour  ;  but,  unfortunately  both  for  Mr.  H.  and  the 
publick,  it  has  had  no  weight  upon  his  mind.  He 
has  eagerly  received  every  thing  that  was  offered 
him  by  the  people,  without  any  such  reflections ; 
and  has  frequently  accepted  of  appointments,  to 
which  he  was  not  only  unequal,  but  which  were 
wholly  incompatible  with  those  he  had  before  en 
joyed,  Let  him  be  hailed  master,  and  receive 
homage  from  the  multitude,  and  he  cares  not  what 
is  the  real  opinion  of  the  respectable  part  of  socie 
ty,  as  to  him  or  his  conduct.  This  has  been  clearly 
verified,  in  that  part  of  his  publick  life  we  have 
before  examined.  We  will  now  attend  to  subse 
quent  periods. 

When  our  new  Constitution  was  forming  in 
1780,  Mr.  H.  was  a  delegate  from  Boston,  in  Con 
vention  ;  and  never  surely  was  there  a  more  happy 
opportunity  for  a  man  to  display  his  knowledge  of 
the  principles  of  government,  and  of  men  and 
things.  Numbers  of  members  did  honour  to  them- 


24 

selves  and  their  country,  on  that  occasion  ;  and 
our  present  happy  Constitution,  the  wonder  of  the 
world,  exhibits  the  clearest  proof  of  wisdom  and 
knowledge.  But  has  Mr.  H.  a  fair  claim  to  a  large 
share  of  the  fame  due  to  its  compilers?  Which  of 
its  principal  beauties  and  excellencies  did  he  pro 
ject  ?  Or  which  of  its  most  valuable  checks  origi 
nated  with  him  ?  Let  the  active  men  upon  that 
stage  declare,  and  do  him  justice  ;  or  let  them  say, 
whether  he  had  any  more  merit  upon  that  great 
occasion,  than  those  had,  who  gave  a  mere  silent 
vote  in  its  favour — I  never  could  learn  that  he  had. 
The  Constitution  being  adopted,  Mr.  H.  was  the 
man  first  elected  to  the  chair  of  government  ; 
and  never  did  a  man  take  the  reins  in  his  hands, 
with  so  many  fortunate  circumstances  in  his  favour. 
Pleased  as  we  all  were  with  the  constitution  itself, 
and  enjoying,  as  he  then  did,  the  affections  of  a 
great  part  of  the  people,  he  might  by  a  wise  and 
prudent  administration,  have  secured  a  lasting  rep 
utation  to  himself,  and  derived  to  the  publick  all 
the  benefits,  which  were  so  sanguinely  expected 
from  the  new  constitution.  But  we  soon  saw,  that  he 
was  incapable  of  a  wise  and  prudent  administration, 
as  he  had  before  proved  himself  of  framing  a  form 
of  government.  No  sooner  was  he  in  office,  than  he 
began  to  indulge  his  ruling  passions.  He,  it  is  said, 
made  nominations  to  offices  the  most  important, 
without  any  regard  to  the  qualifications  of  the  per- 


25 

sons,  or  the  good  of  society  ;  and  that  the  only 
inquiries  he  in  general  made,  were,  whether  the 
persons  who  applied,  or  were  proposed  as  candi 
dates  for  an  office,  were  his  friends,  and  had  given 
him  their  votes.  These  being  the  principles  upon 
which  he  made  nominations,  many  valuable  men 
were  prevented  from  being  made  useful  to  the 
community;  and  hence  proceeded  a  swarm  of  jus 
tices,  sheriffs,  &c.,  who  have  by  their  ignorance 
and  folly,  injured  the  reputation  of  government, 
perverted  the  laws,  and  proved  a  curse  to  society, 
for  it  happened,  unfortunately  for  the  publick  in 
that  respect,  that  those  who  voted  against  him, 
were  generally  men  of  the  most  repute  for  their 
wisdom  and  virtue.  He  availed  himself  of  the 
prerogative  of  his  office,  to  hedge  himself  about, 
and  strengthen  his  interest,  by  giving  places  to  his 
advocates.  And  he  has  always  refused,  except  in 
a  few  instances,  where  the  voice  of  the  people  be 
came  irresistible,  to  nominate  any  who  were  not 
his  personal  friends. 

The  evils  resulting  to  the  state  from  this  unjust, 
or,  at  best,  wanton  exercise  of  his  prerogative,  have 
been  much  greater  and  more  extensive  than  is  gen 
erally  imagined.  The  bulk  of  the  people  know  but 
little  of  the  government  under  which  they  live. 
They  hear  but  little  of  the  conduct  of  those  at  the 
head  of  affairs ;  and  they  see  less.  Their  opinions 
of  government  are  formed,  principally  at  least, 


26 

from  the  character  and  conduct  of  magistrates  and 
other  executive  officers,  who  live  near  them.  When 
therefore  they  perceive,  that  those  offices  are  filled 
by  men  of  contemptible,  or  worse  characters,  they 
naturally  conclude,  that  as  the  stream  is  foul,  the 
fountain  cannot  be  pure  ;  and  feeling  also  as  they 
always  must  in  such  cases,  that  the  laws  become 
grievances,  by  being  weakly  and  wickedly  executed, 
they  soon  get  to  despise  the  government  itself,  and 
grow  ripe  for  a  revolution.  These,  I  conceive,  are 
the  natural  effects  of  such  improper  appointments 
to  office  ;  and  the  insurrections  in  1785  were  clearly 
a  living  proof  of  it.  Government  had  then  lost  all 
its  dignity,  from  the  causes  I  have  mentioned,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  multitude  ;  and  the  evils  of  that  day 
were  the  natural  fruit  of  the  seeds  sown  by  Mr.  H. 
when  first  in  the  chair. 

It  is  the  part  of  a  patriot,  and  especially  of  one 
placed  at  the  head  of  a  free  republick  by  the  suff 
rages  of  the  people,  to  teach  them  both  by  precept 
and  example,  to  practice  those  virtues  proper  to 
their  situation,  and  necessary  to  their  safety  and 
happiness — such  as  temperance,  frugality,  prudence, 
and  a  love  of  their  country ;  and  the  more  critical 
the  affairs  of  the  publick,  and  pressing  its  wants, 
the  more  necessary  is  the  general  practice  of  those 
social  virtues,  and  the  greater  the  obligations  on  the 
leaders  of  the  people  to  set  them  a  good  example. 
But  how  opposite  to  this  was  the  conduct  of  Mr.  H. 


27 

through  the  whole  course  of  his  first  administration. 
We  were  then  in  the  midst  of  our  contest  with 
Britain ;  and  great  were  the  exigencies  of  the 
State;  both  for  men  and  money.  The  calls  upon 
the  people  to  support  the  war,  were  frequent  and 
pressing ;  and  our  affairs  required  from  them  every 
thing  that  was  not  necessary  to  their  own  subsist 
ence.  In  this  situation,  industry  and  economy  seem 
ed  to  be  essential  to  our  safety  and  happiness ;  and 
our  case  then  demanded  from  men  high  in  office, 
and  especially  of  those  who  had  assumed  the 
character,  and  expected  the  veneration  due  to 
eminent  patriots,  the  full  weight  of  precept  and 
example.  But  instead  of  this,  Mr.  H.  has  exhibited 
to  our  view  continued  scenes  of  luxury,  to  the  great 
distress  of  the  venerable  old  PATRIOT,  as  he  is  emi 
nently  styled,  and  as  an  evil  example  to  the  people, 
who  are  prone  to  imitate  those,  whom  they  consider 
as  their  betters.  At  one  period,  and  that  a  distress 
ed  one  too,  nothing  was  heard  of  from  Mr.  H.,  but 
balls,  routs,  and  all  the  various  fascinating  pleasures 
of  European  courts.  They  followed  each  other  in 
such  constant,  rapid  succession,  for  several  months, 
and  the  citizens  of  all  ages,  ranks  and  descriptions, 
were  so  generally  made  to  partake  of  them,  that  it 
seemed  as  if  he  meant  to  have  drowned  their  fears 
and  distresses  by  music,  dancing  and  feasting.  He 
at  length  carried  these  scenes  of  dissipation  so  far, 
that  the  sober  citizens,  who  had  shared  in  his 


28 

pleasures,  were  very  uneasy  for  their  own  credit. 
This  was  so  apparent,  that  it  soon  prevented  the 
usual  attention  at  his  parties  ;  his  guests  by  degrees 
withdrew  from  his  board  ;  and  by  their  conduct,  be 
came  silent  reprovers,  at  least,  of  such  dangerous 
and  evil  examples.  These  are  truths  too  notorious 
to  be  denied.  If  such  conduct  has  had  any  share 
in  delivering  us  from  the  yoke  of  Britain — if  it  had 
any  thing  in  it  that  looked  like  patriotism,  or  had 
any  tendency  to  save  us  from  political  destruction, 
let  him  be  so  far  viewed  as  a  patriot,  and  the 
saviour  of  his  country ;  but  no  further. 


NO.  v. 

IT  is  an  unpleasant  task  to  display  to  the  world 
the  foibles  and  defects  of  a  weak  fellow-mortal ;  and 
to  deprive  him  of  a  reputation  which  he  never 
deserved,  or  to  strip  him  of  virtues  which  he  never 
possessed  but  from  the  courtesy  of  his  friends,  may 
appear  to  be  envious.  Charity  and  benevolence  are 
pleasing  virtues — they  engage  our  esteem  and  affec 
tion  :  and  happy  would  it  be  for  society  if  they 
had  a  more  general  influence  upon  our  lives  and 
conduct.  But  we  often  entertain  false  ideas  of  those 
amiable  qualities,  as  well  as  of  modesty,  courage, 
&c.,  and,  from  a  superficial  view  of  things,  we  often 
approve  of  that  which  is  directly  opposed  to  them. 


29 

True  benevolence  to  man  most  certainly  consists  in 
promoting  the  greatest  possible  happiness  of  so 
ciety  ;  but  it  sometimes  so  happens  that  this  cannot 
be  effected  without  inducing  a  partial  evil.  To  rob 
a  butterfly  of  its  gaudy  plumage,  appears,  in  the 
abstract,  to  be  a  malevolent  action  ;  but  if.  by  doing 
it,  one  could  save  the  life  of  a  man,  or  promote  the 
happiness  of  thousands,  it  would  be  deemed  merito 
rious.  Thus,  though  I  may,  by  my  inquiries,  give 
pain  to  Mr.  H.,  yet,  as  he  has  had  a  strong  and  a  bane 
ful  influence  upon  our  social  happiness,  from  the 
weight  of  affairs,  and  his  improper  exercise  of  its 
duties — as  from  wrong  ideas  of  his  true  character 
as  a  publick  man,  we  have  ourselves  contributed  to 
increase  the  evil,  by  continuing  him  in  office,  it 
must  be  right  to  undeceive  the  publick,  or  to  provide 
an  antidote  against  the  poisonous  charms  of  his 
popular  influence,  I  should  cheerfully  embrace  a  fair 
opening  to  give  him  some  praise,  as  a  publick  man ; 
but,  I  seriously  declare,  I  have  not  discovered  one. 
Was  I  to  follow  him  into  private  life,  I  should  there 
find  a  more  variegated  scene,  and  might  collect  many 
handsome  things  to  be  said  in  his  favour ;  but  I  mean 
not  to  notice  either  his  failings  or  virtues  in  private 
life. 

Being  at  the  head  of  our  government  during 
the  most  trying  scenes  of  our  contest  with  Bri 
tain,  he  had  a  full  knowledge  of  our  wants  and 
dangers ;  for  all  communications  from  Congress  and 


30 

the  army  were  addressed  to  him.  With  this  evi 
dence  always  before  him,  would  not  the  patriot's 
breast  have  been  filled  with  anxiety,  and  prompted 
to  exertion  ?  Would  not  his  mind  have  been  con 
tinually  upon  the  stretch  to  devise  ways  and  means 
to  relieve  the  exigencies  of  State  ?  But,  instead 
of  this,  Mr.  H.  was  at  this  very  period  in  the  height 
of  his  dissipated  course.  The  hours  which  should 
have  been  devoted  for  projecting  those  means,  and 
preparing  the  business  necessary  for  the  legislature 
to  take  up,  was  wholly  engrossed  by  his  pleasures ; 
and,  during  the  course  of  four  years'  war,  I  never 
could  learn  that  he  suggested  one  idea  to  the  court 
for  alleviating  burthens  upon  the  people  ;  nor  did 
I  ever  hear  that  he  sacrificed  either  his  time,  his 
pleasures,  or  his  property  to  serve  the  publick. 
When  the  inability  of  Government  to  provide  for 
an  immediate  demand  of  men  or  money  was  appa 
rent,  the  aid  of  individuals  by  way  of  subscription 
became  often  necessary.  Upon  such,  and  other 
occasions,  he  frequently  lent  his  name,  but  he  very 
seldom  furnished  the  money  he  subscribed  ;  and,  so 
far  has  he  been  from  sacrificing  his  property  to 
publick  purposes,  that  I  verily  believe  he  has  done 
it  less  than  any  other  man  of  equal  ability  in  the 
State.  That  it  is  the  peculiar  appropriate  duty  of 
the  Governor,  as  head  of  the  Executive,  to  receive 
and  examine  all  publick  dispatches,  is  evident  from 
the  uniform  practice  of  their  being  addressed  to 


31 

him ;  and  that  it  is  also  his  duty  to  manage  the 
publick  business,  in  the  recess  of  the  court,  no  one 
will  deny.  By  a  clear  and  judicious  statement  of 
that  kind,  with  the  proper  documents  laid  before 
them,  the  sessions  of  the  General  Court,  during  the 
five  years  Mr.  H.  was  first  in  the  chair,  need  not 
have  been  half  so  long  as  they  were,  and  the  pub- 
lick  business  have  been  much  better  done.  We  may 
say,  upon  a  fair  calculation,  that  by  a  proper  atten 
tion  to  that  part  of  the  duties  of  his  station,  he 
might  have  saved  to  the  State  more  than  10,000 
dollars  a  year  in  the  pay  of  the  court  only  ;  and 
have  prevented  most  of  those  acts  and  resolves 
which,  from  their  interference  with  pre-existing  laws, 
or  being  wrong  in  principle  or  form,  from  the  hasty 
manner  in  which  they  were  passed,  it  became  ne 
cessary  soon  to  repeal.  Where,  then,  was  that 
engaging  trait  in  his  character  which  has  of  late 
been  so  conspicuous  and  celebrated?  Was  his 
economy  then  feeble  and  in  its  infancy  ?  Or  was  it 
lulled  asleep  by  the  fascinating  charms  of  balls  and 
routs?  Or  would  he  not  steal  one  hour  in  the  day 
from  those  favourite  amusements  for  such  important 
purposes?  This  seems  to  be  a  small  portion  of 
time,  but  it  would  have  been  enough  for  the  pur 
pose,  perhaps ;  and  is,  beyond  a  doubt,  much  more 
than  he  used  then  to  devote  to  such  business : — I 
cannot,  indeed,  find  any  evidence  of  his  having 
applied  to  it  at  all.  If  we  look  over  the  files  and 


32 

records  of  that  day,  we  shall  find  hundreds  of  the 
most  important  letters  from  Congress,  from  General 
Washington,  and  our  members  of  Congress,  that 
were  never  answered,  though  the  subject  of  them 
required  the  most  speedy  answers ;  nor  does  it 
appear  that  he  took  any  order  whatever  respecting, 
or  had  ever  read  them.  His  custom  was,  when  the 
court  had  convened,  to  send  them  down  a  chaos  of 
papers  and  leave  them  to  make  the  best  use  of  them 
they  could. 

But  the  injury  to  the  State  from  this  shameful 
neglect  of  duty  in  Mr.  EL,  both  to  its  interest  and 
reputation,  appears  much  greater  in  another  view 
of  the  matter.  Had  he  kept  up  a  correspondence 
with  our  members  of  Congress  and  the  Executives 
of  our  sister  States,  we  should  not  only  have  known 
more  of  what  was  passing  in  Congress,  and  in  the 
other  States,  but  our  Delegates  would,  have  been 
better  informed  of  the  views,  interests  and  doings 
of  the  General  Court,  and  their  constituents  at  large. 
It  is  a  degrading  truth,  that  our  own  Government 
knew  as  much  of  the  doings  of  the  British  Parlia 
ment,  as  of  Congress,  and  much  more,  than  they  did 
of  the  other  States;  and  our  members  knew  very 
much  more  of  the  politicks  of  the  other  States,  than 
they  did  of  this.  The  reason  was,  that  every  post 
brought  regular  advices  to  the  other  members  from 
their  respective  Governours,  which  were  frequently 
communicated  to  our  members;  but  our  members 


33 

of  Congress  were  frequently,  for  six  months  toge 
ther,  without  any  official  communication  from  their 
own  Government.  This  was  so  very  injurious  and 
disgraceful  to  the  State,  that  the  venerable  old  PA 
TRIOT  procured  the  appointment  of  a  committee 
of  the  General  Court,  in  1781, 1  think  it  was,  to  keep 
up  the  necessary  intercourse  with  the  other  States, 
Congress,  and  our  own  members.  If  we  had  re 
ceived  and  given  the  proper  information,  as  the 
other  States  did,  we  might,  with  them,  have  avoided 
a  great  part  of  our  present  State  debt.  When  any 
officers  called  for  aid  from  the  States  of  Pennsylvania, 
York,  or  Jersey,  &c.,  the  supplies  were  furnished, 
and  the  persons  who  did  it,  either  looked  to  the 
Congress  in  the  first  instance,  for  his  pay  ;  or  if  the 
State  made  payment,  they  soon  obtained  through 
the  Delegates,  a  resolve  allowing  them  to  deduct  it 
from  an  existing  requisition.  By  those  means  they 
avoided  incurring  a  large  debt  for  supplies  on  Con 
tinental  account,  as  we  did  in  this  State ;  and  are 
now  free  from  the  embarrassments  which  we  feel  so 
heavily.  Had  Mr.  H.  done  as  others  in  the  same 
station  in  our  sister  States,  we  might  have  had  the 
same  information,  and  have  made  the  same  prudent 
use  of  it  as  they  did;  but  our  General  Court  knew 
nothing  of  such  modes  of  getting  relief,  nor  did  our 
members  in  Congress  know,  that  we  were  here 
making  such  advances  on  Continental  account. 
Both  were  kept  in  ignorance  of  what  was  passing, 


34 

through  his  neglect;  whereas  they  ought  both  to 
have  had  a  regular 'and  full  information  of  all  that 
passed  on  their  respective  theatres,  through  his  offi 
cial  agency,  and  being  fully  apprised  of  all  that 
materially  affected  the  interest  of  the  State.  The 
amount  of  the  saving  which  might  have  been  in  this 
way  made,  it  is  not  easily  precisely  to  say ;  but  the 
best  judges  are  of  opinion,  that  we  might,  at  least, 
have  avoided  one-third  part  of  our  present  debt. 
And  what  renders  him  the  more  inexcusable  is,  that 
he  was  often  informed  of  the  load  of  debt,  which  the 
State  was  then  assuming,  and  of  the  means  which 
the  other  States  were  then  using,  to  avoid  it  with 
respect  to  themselves. 

If  in  this  part  of  his  administration  he  made 
sacrifices  of  any  kind,  to  his  private  injury  or  incon 
venience,  to  serve  the  publick,  let  him  have  the  credit 
of  it ;  but  from  the  above  statement,  which  many 
must  recollect  to  be  true,  and  which  our  files  and 
records  will  verify,  I  think  it  is  clear,  that  he  sacri 
ficed  both  the  interest  and  the  reputation  of  the  State 
to  his  own  pleasure  and  caprice. 


NO.  VI. 

IT  is  a  republican  maxim,  that  publick  men  are 
but  the  servants  of  the  people ;  and  it  is  always  ex 
pected,  that  those  who  engage  in  the  service  of  the 


35 

State,  are  bound  not  only  to  a  conscientious  dis 
charge  of  the  duties  of  office,  but  in  every  possible 
way  to  promote  the  happiness  of  the  community. 
This  principle  is  rational  and  just — it  ought  to  have 
an  habitual  influence  on  the  conduct  of  those  who 
engage  in  the  service  of  the  people  ;  and  to  defeat 
their  just  expectations,  by  a  wilful  neglect  of  duty, 
should  always  entail  upon  the  delinquent,  the  most 
pointed  disgrace,  and  severe  reprehension.  But  it 
sometimes  happens,  from  a  concurrence  of  causes, 
that  the  greatest  delinquencies  of  this  sort,  are  for 
a  long  time,  concealed  from  the  eyes  of  the  people, 
and  we  are  led,  upon  publick  principles,  to  view  those 
as  our  chief  benefactors,  who  have  really  proved, 
by  their  weakness  and  indiscretion,  highly  injurious 
to  the  State.  This  has  been  precisely  the  case  with 
Mr.  H.  For  good  reasons,  no  doubt,  he  has  been 
passed  upon  as  for  much  more  than  his  real  value, 
for  a  number  of  years:  and  we  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  considering  him  as  our  greatest  patriot, 
and  one,  who  has  more  wisdom  and  efficiency  than 
any  among  us.  This  idea  we  have  taken  implicitly 
from  others,  and  from  our  having  seen  him  so  often 
and  so  high  in  office ;  but  upon  inquiry  we  find, 
that  he  was  placed  in  those  stations  from  very  dif 
ferent  motives  by  others,  and,  that  the  same  persons 
have  prevented  us  from  seeing  more  than  one  side 
of  his  portrait.  But  as  the  principles  which  ren 
dered  that  deception  not  only  justifiable  but  merito- 


36 

rious,  no  longer  can  operate,  we  ought  now  to  have 
the  veil  taken  from  our  eyes,  and  be  permitted  to 
take  a  fair  view  of  his  political  character  and  con 
duct;  and  to  judge  for  ourselves,  as  to  the  obliga 
tions  we  are  under  to  Mr.  H.  for  his  publick  services. 
This  has  been  the  alone  object  of  my  past  inquiry  ; 
and  will  direct  me  in  the  future.  I  do  assure  you, 
that  I  have  frequently  had,  in  the  course  of  these 
papers,  true  benevolent  Shandean  ideas  enter  my 
mind ;  and  have  been  upon  the  point  of  exclaiming, 
uAway  with  thee;  why  should  I  hurt  thee,"  &c. 
But  reason  came  in,  and  took  off  the  force  of  one's 
feelings  by  suggesting,  that  it  was  high  time  we 
should  distinguish  characters. 

Our  Chief  Magistrate  represents  the  dignity  and 
sovereignty  of  the  State  ;  he  has  a  yearly  salary  of 
near  4,000  dollars,  to  enable  him  to  entertain  respec 
table  strangers  who  come  here,  and  who  pay  him  in  his 
official  capacity  a  proper  respect ;  and  to  live  in  a 
style  proper  to  his  station.  This  is  by  no  means  an 
unimportant  part  of  his  duty — for  strangers  natural 
ly  form  their  opinion  of  the  Government  and  State, 
from  what  they  may  observe  in  the  principal  offi 
cers.  Upon  this  principle,  how  many  times  have 
we  been  distressed  for  the  reputation  of  the  State, 
when  we  have  seen  Mr.  H.  actuated  by  a  levity  and 
caprice  that  would  dishonour  a  very  young  man  sud 
denly  elevated.  It  is  needless  here  to  repeat  in 
stances — they  must  be  fresh  in  the  memory  of  every 


37 

one  in  the  least  acquainted  with  his  conduct — and 
will  long  be  remembered  by  foreigners. 

These  various  indecencies,  and  impropriety  of 
conduct,  and  the  manifest  neglect  of  the  duties  of 
his  office,  evidently  lessened  him  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people.  To  check  this  growing  disaffection,  and  to 
stimulate  his  friends  to  more  exertion  in  his  favour, 
he  resolved,  in  1785,  to  make  a  show  of  resigning 
his  office.  This  artifice  had  before  several  times 
answered  his  purpose ;  and  he  now  expected,  that 
his  friends  in  the  legislature  would  have  obtained 
a  vote,  that  his  continuance  in  the  chair  was  essen 
tial  to  the  safety  and  happiness  of  the  State.  This 
was  what  he  wanted  to  revive  his  popularity ;  and 
he  then  would  have  made  a  merit  of  continuing  in 
office,  to  oblige  the  people,  and  promote  their  hap 
piness.  Relying  on  such  being  the  effect,  he  sent 
to  the  Legislature  a  formal  resignation ;  and  plead 
an  inability  to  perform  the  duties  of  his  office,  from 
an  ill  state  of  health,  as  the  motive  of  his  conduct. 
But  he  was  deceived  in  his  idea  of  the  temper  of 
the  Court. — They  wished  to  get  rid  of  him,  and 
gladly  accepted  of  his  resignation.  Thus  caught  in 
his  own  trap  he  grew  sour  and  malevolent  in  his 
temper.  He  did  all  he  could  to  irritate,  and  create 
an  opposition  in  the  people  at  large,  to  the  succeed 
ing  administration.  This  we  may  conclude  from 
his  own  insidious  suggestions,  and  the  manifest  lan 
guage  and  conduct  of  his  dependents. — They  re- 


38 

presented  his  successor  in  office  as  an  arbitrary  man ; 
and  they  asserted  that  all  taxes  upon  the  people 
were  imposed  without  necessity  and  purposely  in 
tended  to  impoverish  and  subjugate  them.  By  a 
constant  and  assiduous  circulation  of  such  false 
hoods,  and  the  inflammatory  writings  of  the  "  un 
principled  Honestus"  they  at  length  excited  an 
uneasiness  among  the  ignorant  and  unwary. 

No  sooner  did  they  discover  that  a  fire  was  en 
kindled,  than  they  most  industriously  exerted  them 
selves  to  blow  it  into  a  flame.     A  quondam  and  un 
worthy  member  of  an  honourable  bench,  and  a  cer 
tain  chattering    changeling,  who  aspired,  without 
merit,  at   political  elevation — these  laboured  more 
abundantly  to  increase  the  disaffection,  and  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  getting  Mr.  H.  again  into  the 
chair ;  and  no  doubt,  with  his  privity  and  concur 
rence,  for  they  were  nightly  plodding  with  him  to 
promote  their  design.     The  official  and  professional 
opinions  of  the  former  of  these  men,  led  the  igno 
rant  people  to  believe,  that  the  courts  of  law  were 
a  nuisance — the  senate  a  grievance — taxes  unlawful 
and  oppressive — government  cruel — and  the  gov- 
ernour  a  tyrant.     The  same  sentiments  were  echoed 
by  the  latter  of  them  with  all  the  zeal  and  declama 
tion   of  a  fanatic  preacher,    at  the   corners  of  the 
streets,  and  in  the  most  publick  places.     He  also 
added,  that  the  Constitution  itself  was  greatly  de 
fective—that  the  people  were   all  equal,   and   on 


39 

a  level,  having  the  same  rights  to  places  and 
property — that  if  Mr.  H.  was  again  in  the  chair, 
halcyon  days  would  at  once  commence — no  more 
taxes  be  required,  and  like  Sergeant  Kite,  he 
laboured  to  persuade  the  people,  that  they  might 
then  u  buy  a  goose  for  a  groat,  and  sell  the  feathers 
for  a  shilling."  So  zealous  was  the  Changeling  in 
exciting  insurrections,  that,  when  engaged  in  a 
harangue,  he  would  not  even  shorten  it,  though  he 
were  told,  that  his  patients  were  dying  by  the 
dozen. 

By  these  means,  for  these  purposes,  and  through 
their  agency,  was  an  alarming  and  open  insurrection 
actually  produced.  This  was  the  point  which  Mr. 
H.  and  his  advocates,  above  referred  to,  had  been 
anxiously  wishing  for ;  and  their  object  was  now 
to  make  the  most  of  it.  But  the  matter  had  now 
become  serious — the  citizens  of  Boston  became  deep 
ly  interested ;  and  they  warmly  supported  the  mea 
sures  of  government.  This  apparently  damped  the 
ardour  of  Mr.  H.  and  his  "immaculate"  friends. 
They  became  more  cautious,  but  not  less  active  in 
encouraging  the  insurgents.  They  kept  up  a  con 
stant  intercourse,  it  was  said,  and  they  all  openly 
condemned  the  conduct  of  government.  It  was  in 
dustriously  circulated  all  over  the  State,  that  Mr.  H. 
had  said,  that  he  could  reduce  the  insurgents  to 
duty  only  by  talking  to  them — that  Mr.  Quondam 
had  said,  as  a  professional  man,  that  government 


40 

had  no  authority  from  the  Constitution  to  use  force 
with  them — and  that  Mr.  Changeling  had  said,  that 
the  insurrection  was  nothing  more  than  a  harmless 
ebullition  of  the  true  republican  principle — he  also 
had  said,  that  the  sight  of  Mr.  H.'s  baises,  like 
relicks  of  eminent  saints,  would  work  miracles ;  it 
would  restore  order  among  the  insurgents,  and  lead 
them  at  once  to  beat  their  swords  into  plough 
shares. 

If  in  this  part  of  his  political  course  we  have 
discovered  evident  marks  of  the  great  statesman 
and  patriot  -  -  if  he  has  made  his  own  interest, 
views  and  interest  quite  subservient  to  the  publick 
good,  let  us  sound  his  praises,  and  hail  him  as  the 
Saviour  of  our  Country.  But  if,  on  the  contrary, 
we  perceive,  that  a  selfish  ambition,  and  a  puerile 
levity,  have  uniformly  guided  his  conduct  and  opi 
nions,  we  ought  to  lament  our  past  veneration  for 
an  unworthy  character,  and  resolve  for  the  future 
to  be  more  vigilant  and  wary. 


NO.  VII. 

THERE  are  men  in  every  free  society,  who  have 
not  a  common  interest  with,  the  community  at  large, 
and  who  rely  wholly  on  the  popular  affection  in 
their  favour  to  give  them  promotion  and  support  in 
publick  life.  They  are  too  proud  and  restless  in 
their  tempers,  and  too  indolent  in  their  habits,  and 


41 

capricious  in  their  pursuits,  to  provide  for  them 
selves  by  any  common  avocations ;  and,  having  no 
other  objects  to  attend  to,  they  are  generally  too 
successful  in  their  endeavours  to  excite  the  passions, 
and  engage  the  voice  of  the  people  on  their  side. 
Without  abilities  to  make  them  really  useful  in  pub- 
lick  life,  and  devoid  of  principles  or  merits  that  can 
command  respect,  they  have    no    dependence   but 
upon  popular  inattention  to  bring  them  into  view  ; 
and,  having  been  long  attentive  to  the  popular  pulse, 
and  always  acquainted  with  the  darling  object  with 
the  multitude  for  the  time,  they  rarely  fail  to  touch 
the  right  string,  and  to  make  the  people  subserve 
their  own  selfish  and  private  views.     Upon  these 
principles  we  may  fairly  account  for  the   conduct 
and  success  of  the  seekers  and  demagogues  of  our 
times.     We  have  often  seen  the  public  mind  highly 
agitated  by  their  artifices  ;  but  have  generally  been 
too  careless  and  superficial  in  our  inquiries,  to  trace 
the  evil  to  its  source,   and,  of  course,  have  been 
mistaken  in  the  remedies  we  have  applied.     There 
cannot  be  found  within  the  compass  of  our  memo 
ry    an    instance  so   strongly   verifying   the   prece 
ding  observation,  as  that  of  Mr.  H.  and  his  adher 
ing  dependents.     It  was  a  time  of  commotion  that 
first  gave  him  political  existence  ;  and  it  was  to  ren 
der   those   commotions   beneficial   to  our  country, 
that  induced  our  patriots  of  that  day,  to  think  of 
giving  him  importance.     Many  of  us  can  remember 


42 

the  pains  they  took,  and  the  address  they  made  use 
of,  to  keep  up  the  idea ;  and  while  it  was  important 
to  the  publick  that  the  impression  should  remain, 
they  were  so  fortunate  as  to  preserve  it.  But  in  a 
short  time  after  the  peace  in  1783,  when  our  pas 
sions  had  subsided,  and  our  sober  reason  took  the 
lead  —  when  we  had  leisure  and  inclination  to 
think  for  ourselves,  and  no  one  thought  it  neces 
sary,  upon  publick  principles,  any  longer  to  keep  a 
veil  over  Mr.  H.  and  his  conduct,  we  soon  began  to 
discover  his  foibles  and  weakness,  and  he  rapidly 
sunk  in  our  esteem.  This  gave  rise,  as  we  have 
seen  in  our  last  number,  to  his  capricious  resigna 
tion  ;  and  that,  in  its  effects,  to  the  late  insurrections. 
The  alarming  situation  of  our  affairs  at  that 
period,  and  the  part  which  Mr.  H.  and  his  adherents 
acted,  both  before  and  after  he  was  again  seated  in 
the  chair,  is  too  recent  and  fresh  in  our  minds  to 
require  a  detail  of  facts.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  it 
was  exactly  after  the  old  manner ;  and  wholly  adapt 
ed  to  promote  his  own  personal,  popular  views,  with 
out  any  regard  to  the  dignity  or  safety  of  the  govern 
ment.  And  the  course  of  his  conduct  from  his  re- 
assuming  the  chair,  to  the  meeting  of  our  State 
Convention,  for  considering  and  adopting  the  new 
form  of  government  for  the  Union,  was  nothing 
more  than  a  renewed  exhibition  of  the  same  levities, 
and  a  uniform  preference  of  his  own  private  interest 
to  that  of  the  publick. 


43 

A  scene  now  opens  upon  us,  very  interesting 
and  important: — The  objects  which  then  presented 
for  our  consideration,  were  so  novel,  and  of  such 
magnitude,  as  deservedly  engrossed  the  feelings  and 
the  attention  of  every  man.  No  one  could  remain 
mute  and  indifferent,  while  the  question  as  to  the  new 
Constitution  was  pending ;  and  every  one,  who  felt 
no  other  bias  than  a  regard  to  the  safety  and  happi 
ness  of  our  country  must  necessarily  create,  was  most 
anxiously  solicitous  for  its  adoption.  But  the  popular 
demagogues,  and  those  were  very  much  embarrassed 
in  their  affairs,  united  to  oppose  it  with  all  their  might; 
and  they  laboured  incessantly,  night  and  day,  to 
alarm  the  simple  and  credulous,  by  insinuating,  that, 
however  specious  its  appearance,  and  that  of  its  ad 
vocates,  tyranny  and  vassalage  would  result  from  its 
principles.  The  former  of  those  descriptions  were 
conscious,  that  a  stable  and  efficient  government, 
would  deprive-  them  of  all  their  future  importance, 
or  support  from  the  publick ;  and  the  latter  of  them 
knew,  that  nothing  but  weakness  and  convulsions 
in  government  could  screen  them  from  payment  of 
their  debts.  How  far  Mr.  H.  was  influenced  by 
either,  or  both  of  these  motives,  it  is  not  easy  to 
determine ;  but  no  one,  who  recollects  his  general 
habits,  who  knows  his  situation  and  views,  and  was 
acquainted  with  the  open  conversation  and  conduct 
of  his  cabinet  counsellors,  can  have  a  doubt  of  his 
being  opposed  to  it.  We  all  know,  that  Mr.  Quon- 


44 

dam  and  Mr.  Changeling,  as  well  as  the  once  vene 
rable  old  patriot,  who  by  a  notable  detection  has 
thrown  himself  into  the  arms  of  Mr.  H.  in  violation 
of  every  principle ;  and  for  the  paltry  privilege  of 
sharing  in  his  smiles,  has,  at  the  eve  of  life,  cast  an 
indelible  stain  over  his  former  reputation — it  is  well 
known,  I  say,  that  these  men  do  not  dare  to  speak 
in  publick,  a  language  opposite  to  that  of  their 
patron ;  and  it  is  equally  notorious,  that  they  were 
open  in  their  opposition  to  the  Constitution.  They 
even  went  so  far  as  to  vilify  its  compilers,  that  they 
might  thence  draw  an  argument  to  support  their 
suggestions,  of  its  containing  the  seeds  of  latent 
tyranny  and  oppression.  They  endeavoured  by 
every  possible  means  in  their  power,  to  create  a 
popular  clamour  against  the  Constitution ;  but  they 
failed  in  their  attempt ;  and  Mr.  H.  and  his  friends 
were  obliged,  upon  their  own  principles,  to  grow 
more  cautious  in  their  opposition.  The  good  sense 
of  the  Mechanicks  of  Boston,  had  produced  some 
manly  and  spirited  resolutions,  which  effectually 
checked  Mr.  H.  and  his  followers  in  their  opposi 
tion  to  the  Constitution ;  and  eventually  occasioned 
four  votes  in  its  favour,  which  otherwise  would -have 
been  most  certainly  against  it.  Had  those  reso 
lutions  not  made  their  appearance,  Mr.  H.  and  three 
others  of  our  delegates  would  have  been  in  the 
negative  ;  but  it  was  thought  necessary  by  them, 
after  they  had  appeared,  to  vote  in  favour  of  it. 


45 

Having  settled  this  point,  the  next  thing  was  to  do 
it  with  a  good  grace,  and  to  profit  as  much  by  it  as  ^ 
they  could; Land  Mr.  H.  accordingly  intimated  to 
the  advocates  for  the  adoption,  that  he  would  appear 
in  its  favour,  if  they  would  make  it  worth  his  while. 
This  intimation  was  given  through  a  common  friend 
who  assured  the  friends  of  the  Constitution,  that 
nothing  more  would  be  required  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
H.  than  a  promise  to  support  him  in  the  chair  at  the 
next  election.  This  promise,  though  a  bitter  pill,  was 
agreed  to  be  givent  for  such  was  the  state  of  things, 
that  they  were  very  much  afraid  to  decide  upon  the 
question,  whilst  he  was  opposed  to  it.  The  famous 
conciliatory  proposition  of  Mr.  H.  as  it  was  called, 
was  then  prepared  by  the  advocates,  and  adopted 
by  him,  but  the  truth  is  he  never  was  consulted 
about  it,  nor  knew  its  contents,  before  it  was  handed 
to  him  to  bring  forward  in  Convention.  At  the 
appointed  time  Mr.  H.  with  all  the  parade  of  an 
arbiter  of  States,  came  out  with  the  motion,  not 
only  in  the  words,  but  the  very  original  paper  that 
was  given  him ;  and,  with  a  confidence  astonishing 
to  all,  who  were  in  the  secret,  he  called  it  his  own, 
and  said  it  was  the  result  of  his  own  reflections  on 
the  subject,  in  the  short  intervals  of  ease,  he  had 
enjoyed,  during  a  most  painful  disorder.  In  this 
pompous  and  farcical  manner  did  he  make  that 
famous  proposition,  upon  which  he  and  his  adherents 
have  arrogated  so  much ;  but  neither  he  nor  they 


46 

have  any  other  merit  in  the  case,  than  an  attempt 
to  deceive  both  parties,  can  fairly  entitle  them. 
For,  at  the  very  time  he  was  buoying  up  the  hopes 
of  the  advocates,  he  was  assuring  the  opposers  of 
the  Constitution,  by  his  emissaries,  that  he  was  really 
averse  to  it;  and  upon  the  strictest  scrutiny,  we 
cannot  find  that  any  one  vote  was  gained  by  his 
being  ostensibly  in  favour  of  it.  The  votes  of  the 
Old  Patriot,  and  Mr.  Changeling,  and  Mr.  Joyce,  jun. 
we  know  were  determined  in  its  favour,  by  the  reso 
lutions  of  the  mechanicks ;  but  the  votes  of  many 
others  who  used  implicitly  to  follow  Mr.  H.  were  in 
the  negative,  which  were  counted  upon  by  the 
friends  of  the  Constitution,  as  being  certain  on  their 
side.  This  is  a  strong  confirmation  that  Mr.  H.  was 
then  playing  a  game,  which  these  people  well  un 
derstood  ;  and  indeed  they,  some  of  them,  explicitly 
declared  it  at  the  time.  His  subsequent  conduct, 
in  regard  to  amendments,  is  a  clear  proof  also,  that 
by  appearing  in  its  favour  in  Convention,  he  did  not 
mean  to  support  it,  and  that  he  was  not  serious 
when  he  declared  his  proposition  to  be  only  concili 
atory,  and  not  to  remedy  any  defects  existing  in  his 
mind  in  the  Constitution  as  reported,  which  he  ex 
plicitly  declared  at  the  time  was  the  case. 

I  feel  a  reluctance  at  exposing  to  the  world  this 
transaction,  on  various  accounts ;  but  when  a  man 
demands  of  us  so  much  homage,  and  assumes  to  him 
self  so  much  merit,  for  an  action,  which  when  rightly 


47 

understood,  must  certainly  render  him  very  con 
temptible,  I  think  the  public  should  know  how  far 
they  are  indebted  to  him  in  the  instance  referred  to. 
Has  Mr.  H.  proved  himself  open  and  undisguised  in 
this  instance,  as  he  assured  the  court  in  his  message  ? 
Let  him  have  the  credit  of  it. — But  if  he  has  been 
guilty  of  repeated  duplicity — if  he  has  endeavoured 
to  deceive  both  parties  for  his  own  private  advan 
tage,  may  he  then  meet  the  disapprobation  he  de 
serves. 


NO.  VIII. 

WE  have  all  a  desire  of  appearing  respectable  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world ;  and  have  a  strong  relish  for 
that  kind  of  attention,  which  is  generally  shewn  to 
eminent  and  worthy  characters.  This  natural  prin 
ciple,  when  properly  restrained,  and  under  .the  guid 
ance  of  reason,  is  highly  useful.  It  stimulates  to 
virtuous  action  ;  and  gives  us  a  taste  for  merited 
applause.  But  if  it  be  permitted  to  operate  too 
strongly  on  our  minds,  it  will  certainly  injure  our 
character  in  the  end ;  and  eventually  deprive  us  of 
that  small  portion  of  fame  which  might  otherwise 
have  been  readily  allowed  to  us  by  the  world.  In 
proof  of  this,  instances  in  life  do  very  often 
occur  ;  and  among  public  men,  we  not  unfrequently 
see,  most  humiliating  proofs  of  the  danger  of  indul 
ging  in  inordinate  love  of  popular  applause.  When 


48 

in  the  course  of  events,  a  weak  man  is  accidentally 
elevated,  which  in  this  country  has  sometimes  hap 
pened,  the  parade  of  the  office  and  the  flattery  of  his 
venal  dependents  soon  make  him  giddy ; — and  if  he 
has  a  native  proneness  to  vanity,  he  will  get  to  rel 
ish  the  grossest  flattery,  and  will  not  only  borrow, 
but  take  without  leave  the  plumes  of  another  to  or 
nament  himself.  But  of  all  the  instances  of  indul 
ging  to  a  foolish  vanity,  and  an  undue  passion  for 
flattery  and  ostentation,  those  which  Mr.  H.  has  often 
exhibited,  have  been  the  most  excessive  ;  and  par 
ticularly  the  one  which  I  mentioned  in  my  last  num 
ber,  I  mean  his  celebrated  proposition  in  our  State 
convention.  Who  that  had  not  lost  all  sense  of  de 
cency  and  modesty,  could  have  so  publickly  declar 
ed,  what  many  who  heard  him  could  not  believe  ? 
Who  that  had  not  blunted  his  feelings,  by  gratefully 
receiving  the  most  servile  flattery,  would  have  arro 
gated  the  merit  of  an  action,  or  proposition,  which 
many  who  heard  him,  knew  to  be  the  projection  of 
another. 

But  that  opportunity  of  increasing  his  borrowed 
reputation  was  too  inviting  to  be  omitted  ;  and  the 
feather  then  offered  him  was  of  so  enchanting  a  hue, 
that  he  could  not  resist  the  desire  of  wearing  it ; 
though  he  might  have  known,  from  the  circum 
stances  of  the  case,  that  it  would  soon  fall  from  his 
crest.  So  entirely  enslaved  is  he,  by  his  vanity  and 
caprice,  that  he  in  the  instance  referred  to,  for  the 


49 

purpose  of  extending  his  popularity  and  securing 
his  post,  appearedto  be  in  favour  of  the  Constitution 
in  direct  opposition  to  his  own  most  deliberate  reso 
lutions,  and  against  the  most  earnest  remonstrances 
of  the  Old  Patriot,  Mr.  Quondam,  and  Mr.  Change 
ling.  For  though  two  of  them  voted  for  it,  to  please 
their  constituents,  it  was  generally  known  that  they 
were  secretly  opposed  to  it,  and  privately  assisted 
those  members,  who  were  openly  against  it.  We 
cannot  soon  forget  the  old  patriot's  attempt  to  lose 
the  question  by  an  insidious  motion  by  way  of 
amendment ;  nor  the  celebrated  speech  of  a  con 
ceited  Eastern  opposer,  which  was  said  to  have  been 
seen  in  the  writing  of  Mr.  Changeling.  Nor  can  we 
believe,  that  the  open  opposition  of  Mr.  Quondam 
would  have  been  so  conspicuous,  or  the  secret 
attempts  of  the  two  others,  to  defeat  the  views  of 
their  patron,  have  been  pursued,  had  his  support  to 
the  question  been  more  than  ostensible ;  their  uniform 
absolute  devotedness  to  his  will  renders  it  incredible. 
When  the  constitution  was  adopted  by  a  num 
ber  of  the  States,  and  there  was  a  good  prospect  of 
its  going  through  the  Union,  a  new  scene  opened, 
to  fire  Mr.  II. 's  ambition.  It  was  thought  by  the 
Cabinet,  from  the  manner  of  electing  the  Presidents, 
that  Mr.  II.  might,  by  a  general  vote  in  his  favour, 
under  the  idea  of  his  being  second,  possibly  become 
the  first  president  in  the  Union. — This  was  thought 
a  very  flattering  idea  to  them  all— for,  if  they  could 

4 


50 

have  succeeded,  the  whole  junto  would  soon  have 
been  in  office. — To  promote  these  views  a  trusty 
hand  was  sent  off  to  the  Southern  States,  to  solicit 
votes  in  his  favour ;  and  we  soon  saw  the  name  of 
Mr.  H.  in  all  the  papers  from  thence  as  the  only 
one  there  thought  of  to  be  the  second  to  Washing 
ton  ;  and  to  compleat  their  folly,  this  same  agent, 
as  he  himself  said,  before  he  sat  off,  attempted  to 
draw  from  Dr.  Adams,  a  relinquishment  of  any  pre 
tensions  to  the  chair  of  Vice  President,  under  the 
idea  his  being  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Judiciary. 
But  their  views  were  too  open  to  escape  the  Doc 
tor's  penetrating  eye ;  and  they  and  their  proposi 
tion  were  treated  with  proper  contempt. — Nor  were 
they  more  successful  in  the  other  States — the  name  of 
Mr.  H.  appeared  in  their  papers,  during  the  time  for 
which  their  agent  had  paid  for  its  insertion  ;  and  it 
then  disappeared,  and  has  remained  in  obscurity, 
as  to  that  object.  In  this  instance,  we  cannot  but 
wonder  at  the  presumption  and  folly  of  that  rnotly 
cabinet,  in  entertaining  the  idea,  that  Mr.  H.  could 
among  men  of  sense,  have  any  chance  in  competi 
tion  with  so  great  a  character  as  Dr.  Adams.  The 
event  has  proved  a  great  mortification  to  the  vanity 
of  Mr.  H.  and  has  shown  most  clearly  the  great  dis 
parity  of  their  characters  and  merits  in  the  minds 
of  the  electors  through  the  Union.  To  compensate 
two  of  these  principal  adherents,  the  Patriot  and 
the  Changeling,  for  his  appearance  of  opposition  to 


51 

them  with  respect  to  the  Constitution,  Mr.  H.  as 
sured  them,  that  in  his  administration,  he  would 
attend  to  their  interest,  and  be  guided  by  their  ad 
vice. — This  promise  he  has  more  religiously  ob 
served,  than  any  one  he  had  ever  before  made. 
He  interfered  in  the  elections  to  support  the  Pa 
triot's  pretensions — he  insulted  the  man  who  was 
the  choice  of  the  people — he  violated  the  Constitu 
tion — he  assumed  a  discretion  to  suspend  the  laws 
—he  treated  repeatedly  with  very  great  indignity 
his  constitutional  council,  the  most  respectable  that 
I  ever  recollect ;  and  he  has  wantonly  vilified  the 
best  men  in  the  State,  to  promote  the  interest,  and 
gratify  the  feelings  of  two  unworthy  characters,  the 
Patriot  and  the  Changeling.  These  things  are  of 
so  recent  a  date,  and  are  so  fresh  in  our  minds, 
that  it  cannot  now  be  necessary  to  recite  the  facts. 
We  shall  only  observe,  that  he  had  become  so  vain 
and  confident,  from  the  general  support  he  received 
at  the  last  election,  in  consequence  of  the  promise 
he  had  from  the  advocates  for  the  Constitu 
tion,  as  a  reward  for  his  apparently  deserting  his 
friend  in  the  State  convention,  that  he  has  freely 
indulged  his  whims  and  his  feelings,  and  has 
given  full  scope  to  his  caprice  and  ill  humour. — His 
conduct  has  lately  much  more  resembled  the  froward- 
ness  of  a  child,  than  the  dignified  elevation  proper 
to  his  station  ;  and  every  branch  of  government  has, 
in  its  turn,  experienced  the  inconvenience  of  his 
puerile  pettishness.  The  inconsistency  and  inde- 


52 

cency  of  his  conduct,  has  been  much  more  frequent 
and  conspicuous  than  ever,  since  he  has  been  under 
the  management  of  the  three  characters  we  have 
mentioned.  Never  was  there  in  appearance,  a  more 
extraordinary  coalition. — Mr.  H.  has  really  no  con 
fidence  in  either  of  them ;  and  he  has  repeatedly 
declared,  it  is  said,  that  he  knows  them  all  three  to 
be  devoid  of  all  principle. — How  often  have  we 
heard  them  all  speak  of  each  other,  in  the  most 
opprobrious  manner ;  and  openly  declare,  that  they 
were  respectively  governed  by  no  other  than  the 
most  selfish  motives  ?  But  Mr.  H.  and  his  advisers 
have  a  common  interest,  which  is  opposite  to  that 
of  the  publick.  They  all  four  are  sensible,  that 
they  depend  only  on  the  passions  of  the  people  for 
their  places  and  support.  They  know  that  a  poli 
tical  calm,  and  a  steady  administration  to  Govern 
ment,  which  would  quiet  the  feelings  of  the  people, 
and  leave  them  to  the  guidance  of  their  sober  rea 
son,  would  soon  deprive  them  of  their  political  ex 
istence. — Hence  we  find,  that  nothing  is  so  alarming 
to  them,  as  the  appearance  of  publick  tranquillity ; 
and  upon  the  first  symptoms  of  its  approach,  they 
take  their  parts,  and  most  industriously  labour  to 
produce  an  irritation  upon  the  publick  mind. — They 
have  then  immediate  recourse  to  their  threadbare 
artifice,  of  exhibiting  tories,  Jacobites  and  aristocrats 
to  arouse  the  people ;  and  to  give  the  farce  an  ap 
pearance  of  truth,  they  will  fabricate  and  publish 
letters  about  plots  and  treasons.  The  several  mem 
bers  of  this  quadruple  alliance  have  all  been  equally 


53 

conspicuous,  allowing  for  the  difference  of  the  age 
and  opportunity,  for  their  inordinate  thirst  for 
places  and  preferment ;  and  they  have  each  of  them, 
in  their  turn,  cursed  the  others  most  heartily,  for 
standing  in  their  way,  and  have  been  equally  emu-* 
lous  in  their  imitations  of  Proteus. 

Let  any  man  review  the  political  conduct  of  each 
of  the  allies,  with  coolness  and  candour,  free  from 
all  prejudice  against,  or  partiality  in  favour  of  them, 
and  he  will  have  no  doubt  as  to  the  principle  of  ac 
tion.  He  will  find,  that  ambition,  or  avarice  has 
uniformly  directed  them  as  public  men,  according 
to  the  object  before  them ;  and  that  to  attain  their 
points,  they  have  with  surprising  facility,  changed 
their  principles  and  their  party,  associating  one  day 
and  execrating  the  next,  as  their  passions  or  their 
interests  have  happened  to  dictate. 


NO.  IX. 

I  HAVE  been  not  a  little  diverted  at  the  various 
conjectures,  as  to  the  author  of  LACO  ;  and  have 
been  pleased  to  find,  that  after  all  their  inquiries, 
the  friends  of  Mr.  H.  have  been  perfectly  at  a  loss. 
I  am  a  plain,  and  a  private  man ;  and  have  no  inter 
est  in  the  management  of  publick  affairs,  save  only 
as  they  may  affect  the  people  at  large. — I  live  upon 
a  small  patrimony,  at  a  few  miles'  distance  from 
Boston,  and  have  leisure  to  attend  to  measures  and 


54 

men,  as  they  pass  before  me  ;  and  being  perfectly 
independent  of  all  parties,  I  care  not  who  is  in 
or  who  is  out  of  administration,  so  that  Government 
be  well  administered.  All  I  want  is,  to  have  men 
of  virtue  and  integrity  in  office;  and  to  guard 
against  the  artifices  of  popular  and  selfish  men,  who 
have  too  long  had  the  reins  of  Government  in  their 
hands.  I  can  write  as  I  please ;  and  can  be  either 
dull  or  poignant,  as  I  think  will  best  suit  my  pur 
pose.  No  one  can  determine  the  writer  from  his 
manner ;  for  this  he  can  and  does  vary  at  his  plea 
sure.  And  the  curious  inquirers,  I  can  assure  you, 
will  never  hit  upon  the  true  author,  unless  you  should 
by  accident,  come  at  the  means  of  disclosing  him. 

I  mean  now,  sir,  to  touch  upon  a  few  instances 
of  Mr.  H.'s  misconduct,  which,  as  they  were  rather 
aside  from  the  common  course  of  his  official  duty,  I 
did  not  notice  in  their  order  as  to  time.  The  sloop 
Winthrop  was  at  the  earnest  request  of  the  people 
in  our  eastern  country,  built  by  the  Government  to 
protect  their  coast,  from  the  depredations  of  the 
British,  and  to  guard  their  coasting  vessels  against 
the  small  cruisers,  which  annoyed  their  trade.  She 
was  manned  and  fitted  by  the  State,  for  those  pur 
poses  alone  ;  and  the  Governour  was  desired  as  head 
of  the  executive,  to  give  the  commander  of  her  the 
necessary  orders,  and  to  see  that  she  was  so  employed, 
as  should  best  answer  the  purposes  for  which  she 
was  equipped.  And  for  a  number  of  months  she 


55 

was  usefully  improved,  and  afforded  great  relief, 
and  protection  to  that  far  extended  coast.  But  the 
captain  of  her  finding  that  no  rich  prize  was  there 
to  be  met  with  ;  he  earnestly  and  actually  desired 
to  extend  the  limits  of  his  cruise.  He  applied  to 
Mr.  H.  for  permission  to  go  among  the  West  India 
Islands,  and  being  backed  by  others,  whom  Mr.  H. 
was  willing  to  oblige,  he,  in  opposition  to  the  direc 
tions  of  the  court,  and  the  most  earnest  remonstrances 
of  our  merchants  and  eastern  fellow-citizens,  sup 
ported  by  their  friends,  gave  him  liberty  to  leave 
that  country  unguarded.  The  consequence  was,  that 
their  trade  was  annihilated  by  the  small  refugee  cruis 
ers,  and  many  very  valuable  prizes  to  our  privateers, 
which  took  to  that  coast  for  a  shelter,  relying  on  the 
protection  of  the  sloop,  were  again  captured  by  the 
British. 

When  the  British  had  determined,  in  conse 
quence  of  an  article  in  the  treaty  of  peace,  to  de 
liver  up  Penobscot,  they  gave  notice  thereof  to 
Congress,  and  desired  that  some  person  might  be 
authorized  to  take  possession  of  that  post.  That 
information  was  given  by  Congress  to  Mr.  H.  as 
Governour  of  this  State,  with  a  request  that  some 
proper  person  might  be  sent  from  hence  to  receive 
the  post  from  the  British.  This  gave  Mr.  H.  a 
new  opportunity,  as  he  supposed,  to  make  himself 
conspicuous,  and  he  conceived  the  puerile,  and 
absurd  idea  of  going  to  Penobscot  in  person  to 


56 

take  the  possession  of  it,  without  at  all  adverting 
to  the  gross  impropriety  of  the  measure,  arising 
from  the  very  great  difference  between  his  own 
rank  and  that  of  the  British  officer  who  commanded 
there.  It  is  very  extraordinary,  and  equally  laugh 
able,  that  Mr.  H.  should  at  one  time  feel  so  highly 
the  dignity  of  his  station,  as  to  treat  with  contempt 
a  French  Ambassador,  the  immediate  representa 
tive  of  majesty  ;  and  at  another  be  so  very  ready 
to  sacrifice  his  own  honour,  and  the  dignity  of  the 
State  of  which  he  was  the  Governour,  by  descending 
to  a  level  with  a  major  or  a  captain  in  the  British 
army.  But  he  never  did  distinguish  between 
reality  and  appearance;  and  was  always  capti 
vated  with  any  thing  that  looked  like  parade.  He 
therefore  had  great  preparations  made  for  this 
famous  expedition,  he  hired  a  vessel  to  carry  him 
and  his  suite,  which  was  to  have  consisted  of  a 
multitude  of  aids,  and  all  the  military  officers  he 
could  prevail  upon  to  attend  him.  After  several 
weeks'  delay,  he  had  formed  his  arrangements,  and 
he  was  ready  for  embarking;  but  an  unfortunate 
idea  entered  into  his  mind,  and  he  conceived  it  was 
possible,  that  the  British  might  not  be  serious  in 
their  proposal  of  delivering  up  the  post,  and  that 
he  and  his  attendants  might  be  there  detained  as  pri 
soners.  This  damped  his  ardour  for  that  famous  expe 
dition,  and  he  began  to  think  it  were  prudent  to  send 
the  Colonel  of  the  Boston  regiment  of  militia.  Still, 


57 

however,  he  was  very  loth  to  give  up  the  voyage ; 
and  between  his  vanity  and  his  fears,  a  long  time 
was  suffered  to  pass  away  without  any  decision  ;  and 
he  was  at  last  relieved  from  the  difficulty,  by  an 
account  from  Penobscot,  that  the  commanding 
officer,  conceiving  himself  very  much  neglected, 
having  received  no  information  from  Mr.  H.  of  what 
he  was  doing  or  intended,  and  tired  of  waiting  for 
advices,  had  quitted  the  post,  after  burning  the 
houses,  and  other  public  buildings,  with  the  stores 
they  contained.  Thus  did  Mr.  H.  not  only  put  the 
State  to  a  very  great  expense  in  the  hire  of  vessels, 
and  making  great  preparations  to  gratify  his  pride 
and  vanity ;  but  he  lost  also  to  the  State,  the 
valuable  buildings  which  the  British  burnt  from  re 
sentment.  Had  he  sent  off  at  once  a  proper  officer, 
without  any  expense  of  money,  or  loss  of  time, 
what  a  saving  of  money,  and  reputation  would  have 
been  made  to  the  State.  But  this  is  one  of  the 
many  instances,  in  which  he  has  been  wantonly 
lavish  of  both  to  gratify  his  vanity  and  caprice. 

In  a  free  government,  the  militia  is  justly  con 
sidered  as  the  natural  and  proper  safeguard  to  the 
state.  But  in  order  to  this,  a  military  spirit  must 
be  cultivated,  and  a  proper  emulation  to  excel  in 
the  performance  and  knowledge  of  their  duty  must  be 
excited,  among  both  officers  and  soldiers.  A  convic 
tion  of  this,  and  a  sense  of  duty  in  the  worthy  pre 
decessor  of  Mr.  H.,  as  Governour  of  the  State,  had 


58 

led  him  to  make  a  point  of  organizing  and  encour 
aging  a  proper  emulation  among  the  militia.  Men 
of  character,  of  spirit,  and  knowledge  in  military 
matters,  were  induced  to  take  commissions ;  and,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  generals,  he  had  really  got  the 
militia  of  the  State  into  very  good  order.  The  Boston 
regiment,  in  particular,  made  such  an  appearance  in 
their  manoeuvres,  when  embodied,  as  did  honour  to 
the  officers  and  the  State,  and  they  raised  the  admi 
ration  of  every  one  who  saw  them.  There  certainly 
was  nothing  like  them  to  be  found  in  America ;  and 
foreigners  very  readily  confessed  that  in  their  own 
countries  there  was  nothing  to  equal  them,  of  the  kind. 
The  importance  of  keeping  up,  and  increasing  the 
military  ardour  was  very  strongly  impressed  on 
every  one's  mind ;  for  we  had  sorely  experienced  the 
want  of  a  good  militia  during  the  late  insurrections, 
and  it  was  this,  perhaps,  in  part,  which  had  made  the 
military  spirit  so  very  general  and  conspicuous.  But 
no  sooner  did  Mr.  H.  again  fill  the  chair  than  that 
spirit  of  emulation  began  to  subside.  Both  officers 
and  men  seemed  universally  to  presage  that,  from 
the  caprice  of  Mr.  H.,  rank  and  promotion  would 
no  longer  result  from  superior  knowledge  and  abili 
ties  in  the  profession  :  but  very  justly  expected 
that  his  adherents  would  very  often,  if  not  always, 
take  the  place  of  those  who  had  a  clear  right,  upon 
every  principle,  to  promotion.  This  apprehension 
produced  a  visible  effect  upon  the  feelings  and  con- 


59 

duct  of  the  militia;  and  we  soon  saw  that   their 
expectations  were  well  founded.     He  soon  threw 
the  militia  into  confusion  by  his  capricious  conduct 
in  the  appointment  of  officers,  &c.,  and  at  length, 
by  the  most  wanton  exercise  of  his  prerogative,  as 
commander  in  chief,  he  wholly  disbanded  or  broke 
up  the  Boston  regiment,  the  pride  of  the  state.     He 
appointed  a  man  to  the  office  of  adjutant  general  who 
had  no  qualification  for  it  but  a  pertness  and  assur 
ance  peculiar  to  himself,  and  who  had  no  claim  to 
promotion  of  any  kind  but  his  being  a  relation   to 
Mr.  H.,  and  his  having  exerted  himself,  by  most  gross 
misrepresentations  in  the  publick  papers,  and  proba 
bly  by  the  privity  of  his   patron,  to  prevent   the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  by  this  State.     By  this 
gross  prostitution  of  the  prerogative  of  office,  and 
by  many  other  instances  of  selfishness  and  caprice, 
Mr.  H.  has  not  only  destroyed  the  most  complete 
regiment  of  militia  ever  known  in  America,  but  he 
has  damped  the  ardour  of  all  the  others,  for  they 
find   by  experience  that,  while  he  is  at  the  head, 
merit  and  abilities  will  be  frowned  upon,  and  that 
nothing  but  the  grossest  venality  will  give  any  one 
a  chance  for  promotion. 

These  are  facts  too  notorious  to  be  denied,  or  to 
require  a  very  minute  statement  of  the  proofs.  Let 
his  puffers  now  come  forward,  and  shew  us  in  which 
of  these  instances  he  discovered  his  patriotism  and 
regard  for  the  welfare  of  society,  or  by  which  of 


60 

them  he  merits  the  arrogated  title  of  "  SAVIOUR 
OF  HIS  COUNTRY  ;"  or,  rather  let  them  satisfy  us, 
if  they  can,  that  he  has  not  in  all  of  them  sacrificed 
the  interest  of  the  public,  by  his  ignorance  of  the 
duties  of  his  office — by  his  selfishness,  vanity  and 
caprice,  or  what,  perhaps,  is  worse,  to  promote  his 
unworthy  dependents. 


.  x. 


IN  a  free,  elective  government  like  ours,  the 
happiness,  and  even  the  safety  of  the  community 
very  much  depends  upon  the  prudence  and  discre 
tion  of  the  people,  in  their  choice  of  persons,  who 
are  to  administer  it.  In  vain  do  we  boast  of  our 
excellent  constitution,  if  those  who  manage  our  pub- 
lick  affairs,  are  too  weak  or  wicked  to  conform  to  its 
principles.  A  man  may,  in  particular  cases,  be  use 
fully  elevated  to  important  office  on  account  merely 
of  some  exterior  qualities,  or  adventitious  circum 
stances  ;  but  having  been  accustomed  to  view  him 
with  respect,  and  taught  to  look  up  to  him,  for  po 
litical  purposes,  as  a  man  eminent  for  his  superior 
good  qualities,  we  at  length  get  the  habit  so  deeply 
rooted,  that  when  the  veil  is  withdrawn  we  are  apt 
to  distrust  our  own  senses,  and  are  with  difficulty 
brought  to  believe  and  confess  the  illusion  we  have 
experienced.  But  unless  we  learn  carefully  to  ex- 


61 

amine  public  characters,  and  to  consider  their  con 
duct  without  partiality  or  prejudice,  fear  or  favour, 
we  never  shall  form  a  right  judgment  of  men  for 
publick  life,  nor  have  any  tolerable  assurance,  that 
our  government  will  be  well  administered,  or  that 
we  be  in  any  degree  happier  for  having  a  good  con 
stitution.  The  view  we  have  taken  of  the  political 
conduct  of  Mr.  H.  mostly  clearly  confirms  the  pre 
ceding  observations ;  and  furnishes  a  most  striking 
instance  of  the  folly,  and  the  danger  to  which  we 
may  be  exposed,  by  too  great  a  reliance  on  exterior 
appearances  and  too  implicit  a  conformity  to  popular 
opinion.  We  have  thereby  seen,  that  when  a  man  has 
been  elevated,  and  for  a  long  time  supported  in  of 
fice,  upon  those  principles,  he  may,  by  the  inatten 
tion  of  the  people  and  popular  arts,  which  Mr.  H. 
and  his  adherents  have  so  industriously  made  use  of, 
enjoy,  without  merit,  the  most  important  stations, 
and  become  immoveable  by  those  who  first  raised 
him  to  importance. 

I  have  now  done  for  the  present,  with  the  inquiry 
I  proposed  as  to  his  publick  character  and  conduct ; 
in  doing  which,  I  had  no  other  object,  than  to  call 
the  recollection  and  attention  of  the  people  to  facts, 
which  are  too  notorious  to  be  denied,  and  of  which 
it  would  be  idle  in  me  to  go  into  the  proofs,  since 
every  man's  mind,  who  has  been  a  careful  observer 
of  men  and  measures,  must  certainly  be  stored  with 
them :  and  I  cannot  see,  upon  a  cool  revision  of  what 


62 

I  have  written,  a  single  fact  that  I  think  is  mis-stated 
or  even  coloured.  If  any  one  doubts  as  to  any  part 
of  the  narrative,  let  him  inquire  of  those,  who  from 
their  connection  with  Mr.  H.  as  a  public  man  at  the 
time,  or  who  from  being  interested  in  the  facts  allu 
ded  to,  must  have  it  in  their  power  to  give  him  sat 
isfaction;  and  not  to  go  either  to  the  personal  friends, 
the  real  dependants  or  warm  advocates  of  Mr.  H., 
nor  to  his  zealous  opponents,  for  candid  information 
— for  from  neither  of  these  he  can  expect  to  get  it. 
I  might  have  added  a  vast  variety  of  less  im 
portant  misconduct:  every  one  knows  how  people 
have  been  detained,  day  after  day,  to  get  papers, 
that  wanted  only  his  official  signature  to  complete 
them,  but  he  was  not  to  be  disturbed  in  his  pleas 
ures,  or  he  did  not  feel  in  the  mood  to  use  his  pen. 
We  all  have  heard  of  his  very  whimsical  conduct, 
wh  n  the  Roxbury  horse,  &c.,  was  to  be  reviewed— 
he  would  and  would  not  attend ;  and  almost  every 
one  recollects  the  various  freaks,  that  marked  his 
conduct,  as  to  the  review  at  Braintree.  The  county 
of  Essex  will  not  soon  forget  his  pompous  entrance 
and  passage  through  their  towns ;  and  the  previous 
pains,  which  were  taken,  by  circulating  letters,  and 
by  active  messengers,  to  notify  his  coming,  and  to 
solicit  attention.  Nor  will  his  council  forget,  that 
he  once  summoned  them  to  convene  on  a  Thursday, 
upon  special  and  important  business — that  they 
appeared  at  the  time — notified  him  of  their  attend- 


63 

ance — but  neither  heard  from,  nor  saw  him,  until 
next  Tuesday,  I  think,  though  he  was  amusing  him 
self,  part  of  the  time,  with  some  convivial  friends, 
at  a  certain  storehouse,  and  he  spent  Monday  at  the 
review  at  Braintree.  Nor  ought  the  public  to  be 
ignorant  of  the  many  days'  pay,  which  they  have 
been  at  the  expense  of,  without  any  benefit,  by 
having  his  council,  at  other  times,  kept  together 
without  any  business,  waiting  for  his  caprice  to  lead 
him  to  his  duty.  Instances  of  this  kind  of  neglect 
and  inattention  to  the  interest  of  the  publick,  have 
been  so  very  numerous  and  frequent,  it  would  be 
needless  to  attempt  a  recital  of  them;  but  every 
man  almost  may  recollect  a  sufficiency  to  satisfy 
himself,  that  private  considerations  and  his  per 
sonal  feelings  have  governed  his  conduct.  But 
to  assist  those,  who  have  not  attended  to  his 
political  character  and  conduct,  let  us  now  take 
a  very  summary  view  of  them  frpm  the  facts 
we  have  stated,  none  of  which  have  ever  been 
attempted  to  be  disproved. 

Mr.  H.  was,  as  we  have  seen,  at  the  early  part  of 
our  contest  with  Britain,  a  young  man  with  a  very 
large  fortune,  and  some  exterior  qualities  well  enough 
adapted  to  form  a  popular  character ;  but  with  a  dis 
position  so  very  capricious,  susceptible  of  flattery, 
and  prone  to  vanity,  it  was  very  difficult  to  keep  him 
steady  and  to  render  him,  with  all  the  advantages  he 
possessed,  beneficial  to  the  public.  These  obstacles, 


64 

however,  did  not  discourage  the  once  venerable  old 
patriot,  and  his  compeers  in  politicks,  from  persever 
ing  in  their  object  of  making  him  a  useful  agent  in 
the  cause ;  and  they  succeeded,  after  much  labour  and 
watching,  so  far  as  to  fix  him  on  their  side,  and  to 
give  him  importance  in  the  eyes  of  the  people.  But 
they  were  much  disappointed,  in  the  degree  of  advan 
tage  they  derived  from  his  being  eventually  with 
them.  They  could  draw  no  aids  from  his  fortune 
to  relieve  the  pressing  exigencies  of  the  State  ;  nor 
could  they  restrain  his  vanity,  to  make  him  act  with 
consistency,  decision  or  dignity :  and,  we  have 
accordingly  seen,  that  from  his  first  entering  into 
publick  life,  to  his  return  from  Congress,  he  always 
required  a  steady  hand  and  a  vigilant  eye,  to  pre 
vent  him  from  running  into  the  utmost  excess  of 
levity,  or  personal  selfishness.  We  might  reasonably 
have  presumed,  that  the  precepts  and  examples  of 
the  patriots  who  brought  him  forward  and  support 
ed  him  in  publick  life  would  have  had  some  effect 
upon  Mr.  H.  and  that  his  natural  levity  would  have 
been  checked,  by  several  years'  intercourse  with 
such  characters.  But  we  find  he  had  so  long  in 
dulged  his  various  passions,  and  had  been  so  pam 
pered  by  a  tribe  of  sycophants,  who  were  always 
around  him,  that  he  became  extremely  averse  to 
every  thing  serious,  and  soon  got  to  be  a  bitter  enemy 
to  those  who  attempted  to  arrest  his  attention,  even 
for  a  moment  to  matters  of  importance.  Conscious 


65 

of  his  own  want  of  merit,  and  persuaded  that  every 
thoughtful,  steady  man  must  soon  grow  weary  of  his 
being  in  the  chair,  and  wish  to  displace  him,  he  made 
an  implicit  obedience  to  his  will,  and  devotedness 
to  his  interest  the  only  conditions  upon  which  he 
would  appoint  to  office,  and  he  used  his  prerogative 
as  a  weapon  of  defence,  to  encourage  those  who 
were  enlisted  in  his  service,  and  to  annoy  or  intimi 
date  those,  who  appeared  to  be  startled  or  grieved 
at  his  excesses.  Hence  proceeded  that  swarm  of 
unworthy  officers,  in  the  various  branches  of  the 
Executive  department,  who  disgraced  the  Govern 
ment,  and  preyed  upon  the  people,  until  they  grew 
uneasy,  and  were  ripe  for  rebellion.  When  the 
natural  effects  of  his  own  foibles  became  visible,  and 
he  saw  that  his  downfall  was  at  hand,  he  endeavour 
ed  to  save  himself,  and  revive  his  popularity  by  the 
stale  artifice  of  appearing  desirous  of  returning  to 
the  state  of  a  private  citizen.  This  failed  him,  and 
he  was  deeply  provoked  and  mortified  to  find  him 
self  reduced  to  a  situation,  in  which  he  was  de 
prived  of  the  pageantry  of  State,  and  the  glare  of 
office,  which  used  to  veil  his  defects  from  the  eyes 
of  the  multitude ;  and  he  soon  set  himself  most  in 
dustriously  at  work,  to  increase  the  popular  irrita 
tion,  which  he  had  before  excited  by  improper  ap 
pointments.  The  distressing  effects  of  the  late 
insurrections,  which  we  still  feel,  or  recollect,  ought 
to  rouse  our  indignation  against  Mr.  H.  and  his 


66 

adherents,  who,  wantonly,  or  rather  selfishly,  in 
volved  us  in  that  dreadful  situation  by  misrepre 
sentations,  and  solely  for  the  purpose  of  again 
recovering  the  chair  of  Government.  That  this 
event  was  produced  by  their  agency,  cannot  be 
doubted,  when  we  recollect  their  conduct  and  lan 
guage  at  that  time — that  he  was  supported  universal 
ly  by  the  insurgents  at  the  next  election — that  papers 
with  his  name,  and  that  of  one  of  his  principal  agents 
were  used  as  passports  through  the  insurgents'  lines, 
— and  that  even  those  who  were  devoted  to  justice, 
by  the  law  of  their  country,  were  assured  of  and 
enjoyed  his  protection  when  again  clothed  with  the 
prerogative  of  pardon. 

Nor  has  he  been  more  wise  or  prudent  since  he 
re-assumed  the  chair.  He  has  exhibited  to  our 
view  one  uniform  scene  of  neglect  of  duty,  or  pros 
titution  of  the  powers  of  his  office,  from  improper 
motives.  He  has  wasted  our  money — retarded  busi 
ness — assumed  a  right  of  dispensing  with  the  law- 
insulted  his  council — deprived  the  State  of  a  good 
militia,  its  natural  and  only  proper  defence — refused 
appointments  to  good  men,  because  of  their  virtues 
and  qualities  for  office,  and  bestowed  them  on  those 
who  were  wholly  unfit,  merely  because  they  hailed 
him  as  their  patron — he  has  treated  some  very  res 
pectable  strangers  with  neglect ;  and  to  others  he 
has  descended  in  such  a  manner  as  to  embarrass 
them,  and  disgrace  his  office ;  and  to  increase  his 


67 

own  popularity,  he  has  ostensibly  advocated  the 
most  important  question  ever  submitted  to  a  people, 
while  his  emissaries  were  employed,  night  and  day, 
in  confirming  its  opposers;  and  yet  this  is  the  in 
stance  to  which  he  has  referred  us  to  prove,  that  he 
is  open  and  undisguised  in  his  politicks. 

But  there  is  one  point  which  Mr.  H.  and  his  ad 
herents  have  yet  in  view,  that  is  still  more  impor 
tant  than  any  they  have  hitherto  aimed  at — I  mean 
— to  lessen  the  influence,  and  to  bring  into  disre 
pute  the  Supreme  Court.  That  bench,  from  the 
respectability  of  their  characters,  the  independence 
of  their  conduct,  and  the  ability  and  integrity 
which  mark  their  decisions,  have  long,  and  justly 
been  considered,  as  the  greatest  security  we  have  for 
our  lives,  liberty  and  property.  The  very  same 
qualities  and  virtues,  which  render  them  so  dear 
and  important  in  the  minds  of  the  people  at  large, 
have  made  them  the  great  object  of  the  envy  and 
hatred  of  Mr.  H.  and  his  adherents.  Whilst  they 
consider  that  bench  as  a  check  to  their  views,  they 
cannot  but  wish  to  lessen  their  credit,  and  bring 
them  into  disrepute.  And  we  accordingly  find,  that 
they  seize  every  opportunity  to  speak  of  them 
disrespectfully,  and  have  industriously  sought  for 
occasions  to  suggest,  that  this  Court  was  too  revered 
and  were  considered  as  of  too  much  importance  in  the 
State.  They  have  likened  them  to  the  famous  Judge 
JEFFRIES,  and  their  official  conduct  to  that  of  the 


68 

Star  Chamber  in  England  ;  and  they  lose  no  opportu 
nity  to  impress  an  idea,  that  the  views  and  principles 
of  that  bench,  are  very  dangerous  and  unfavourable 
to  the  liberties  of  the  people.  However  extravagant 
and  daring  the  attempt,  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that 
Mr.  H.'s  cabinet  counsellors  have  formed  a  deliberate 
system,  to  destroy  the  usefulness  and  respectability 
of  that  venerable  bench ;  and  every  one  who  has  any 
acquaintance  with  him,  or  his  agents,  may  surely 
recollect  sentiments,  which  they  have  repeatedly 
thrown  out,  plainly  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a 
prejudice  against  them ; — particularly  about  the  time 
and  relative  to  the  late  insurrections.  But  I  trust 
that  the  scales  will  soon  fall  from  our  eyes,  which 
have  so  long  obstructed  our  sight.  We  shall  then 
be  able  to  distinguish  characters ;  and  Mr.  H.  and 
his  principal  adherents  will  then  be  held  in  proper 
estimation ;  or  rather  they  will  then  be  viewed,  not 
as  the  friends  of  the  liberty  and  the  happiness  of  the 
people,  but  as  persons  whose  views  and  pursuits  all 
centre  in  themselves. 

LACO. 


FINIS. 


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